How COVID-19 has impacted the Oliver Family and a few words with Chef Jon Gatlin

Covid-19 and the quarantine, with no current end in sight, came without warning, and turned the way we all do life and run our businesses upside down. Just over a month in we can already take inventory of all the ways we’ve course-corrected the details of the day-to-day to continue serving our team, our patrons, and our community the best way we know how.

A lot like you, we’re figuring this out as we go. And that’s the reality of this space in time. Life is being lived in the day to day.

It has meant everything to us to see our community, fellow business owners, and customers rally around us. 

This month, we wanted you to hear from our Executive Chef Jon Gatlin. If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve seen team shout-outs on our feed, one of which was to this guy. A true innovator and genius under fire. Without fire, you can’t cook though, so perhaps that has something to do with it. Without further ado, we give you our interview with Chef Gatlin.

Our Interview with Executive Chef Jon Gatlin 

Oliver Royale: Chef, what were your initial thoughts when news of restaurant closures were first announced? 

Chef Gatlin:  It was a devastating blow for us and anyone without sustainable income. Restaurants are the backbone of communities and the economy, and seeing many restaurants we love and support, close indefinitely was incredibly hard to process in real time. There are mass amounts of kitchen staff with idle time now and not by their own choosing. Pirates with no ships is the analogy that comes to mind. 

How did you and your team pivot shortly after to begin offering Oliver Royale meals in a new way?

To date, our entire back of house staff has been furloughed except myself and my Sous Chef. We had to pivot in a major way in a matter of hours. We are simply taking it, literally, day-by-day but we’re motivated more than ever to maintain an environment for all of our staff to come back to as soon as possible. Within a matter of days we revamped our menu to cater to customers at home with or without family, we modified our hours of operation, set-up a delivery option with DoorDash, and moved all of our communication to social media and email. 

How do you decide what meals you offer on any given day?

Our day-to-day menu offering is based on our current inventory utilization and cost effective sustainable product. For example, family style meals are able to be cooked, cooled and reheated to feed multiple people. That feels like a win for us during this time. In week 1, our Bolognese dinner was our most popular dish from the options we provided and has given us the opportunity to support Inland Seafood Co and Valley Produce along the way .My role is to do the best we can in the back of the house to ensure we’re positioning Oliver Royale the best possible. If there’s one thing we’re all learning through this transition, is that for many of us, learning how to cook and be sustainable at home is the safest option we have. 

We know how tight-knit your team is. What are ways the restaurant and Oliver Group as a whole are finding ways to support the laid off staff?

We held off as long as we could before laying off staff. Even finding ways to strategically delay the inevitable so insurance coverage was intact for another 30 days. Beyond that, we immediately implemented a grocery reimbursement program where each employee receives $100 per week to use towards their food bill. Additionally, this month we started what we’ve coined “Saturday Supper” where laid off employees can pick up a family meal, from 3p-4p, on us. Our General Manager, Sondra, has been incredible and from day one, taken it upon herself to be available to us 24/7 via phone call, text, email for any question or concerns. I really appreciate the fact that our company gave us the option to be furloughed instead of being laid-off. We’re still working on additional ways to support our staff during this time, but it absolutely feels like we’re operating as a team. 

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Thank you Chef Gatlin for keeping it real! 

It means everything to us to have your support! It’s the difference between having a chance to survive and it means we can still let some of our employees (those who feel comfortable to) continue to work. It reiterates the humongous sense of community that Knoxville holds.This city is truly like no other place a lot of us have ever experienced.

For the most up to date information, visit our site, social media, or give us a call at 865-521-0050.