Panoramic 34’s Elliot Hill on re-opening his Liverpool restaurant post-lockdown

Early in lockdown, my friends were saying I’ll be out of a job because people have been learning to cook at home. Now they’re all saying, ‘no, you’re right, you’re going to be busy. Home cooking just isn’t the same as eating in a really good restaurant!’ So I’m hopeful customers will return to us. People have been desperate to celebrate birthdays and special occasions with friends and family, and it’s up to us to give them an exceptional experience, now more than ever.

Yes, for us, the trick is to pare down, not dumb down. We’ll still have our tasting menu, because that’s our signature, but we’ll team it with a simpler four/four/four menu featuring the best of British produce, and we’re not lowering our prices. I believe people will be willing to push the boat out a little more. We’re also shifting the emphasis away from afternoon teas in the bar area and focusing more on the higher spend we can generate in the restaurant.

Instead of a crew of ten, I’ll have two prep chefs in at night to get things ready for the day’s service, and just five in during the day. It’s really important to me that my staff feel as safe as our customers. We’ll have limited covers, but longer opening hours to balance it out.

We’re using our bar and lounge space for spill-over tables from the restaurant so we can comply with the social distancing measures. There’s now a lot of physical distance between tables and we can attend to customers while still keeping the distance. This way, we can follow guidelines, make customers feel safe and give the best fine dining experience we possibly can. Personal service and attention is still vital, we want our customers to feel looked after.

I’m upbeat and positive. Hospitality professionals are a resilient bunch. We work long hours, we fight, we’re adaptable to change and we’re creative. If anyone can survive this and thrive, we can!