Chef Andrew Gruel has a message for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s coronavirus lockdown measures for outdoor dining: “Screw that!”
The man behind Slapfish Seafood told critics who call him a “grandmother killer” that the real “a—hole” is Mr. Newsom, given the shifting set of rules small businesses have to play by in the Golden State.
A spike in COVID-19 cases in the state prompted Mr. Newsom to prohibit outdoor dining in regions where ICU capacity approaches 15%, although Mr. Gruel says the rules are arbitrary, not based on science, and favor corporate giants like Amazon and Walmart.
“I can get on an airplane and I can fly and eat and do whatever I want,” Mr. Gruel, who has appeared as a Food Network judge, said Thursday. “Don’t tell me it’s the HEPA filters, OK? Because that’s not the case. You don’t turn those on until you get on the plane and before that everybody is fornicating on top of one another. I can go into a Walmart … I can go get a pink cockatoo for my Christmas tree, but I can’t go and dine outdoors at a restaurant. I can go to Target. Amazon is making tons of money. All big business is getting rich. OK, outdoor dining does not lead to any that. Therefore, screw that — we’re staying open.”
The chef, who has restaurants at 27 locations, noted that he originally complied with costly indoor dining regulations, which were followed by costly outdoor dining regulations.
The result: a warehouse filled with plexiglass and outdoor heaters that he cannot use.
“Do we take this pandemic seriously? Of course we do,” he said. “Am I saying we shouldn’t close down outdoor dining? Yes, I am. At every single juncture along the way here from the beginning shutdown to today, we’ve listened to all the advice of our government officials only to be shut down over and over and over again and then not compensated for the elements that we put in place in our businesses to protect our customers.
“We shut down indoor dining. No problem. I got a warehouse full of plexiglass right now, OK? We went outdoors. All right. Now that’s getting shut down,” he continued. “I just put thousands of dollars into outdoor heaters. There is zero scientific evidence that proves that outdoor dining is contributing to a rise in cases relating to this.”
Mr. Gruel concluded his remarks by telling coronavirus critics to turn their gaze on the state’s Democratic governor.
“We’re staying open outdoors,” he said. “It’s that simple. I’m not an a—hole. The governor is.”
My message for all the haters. Please share the logic. Sorry, haven’t had a haircut since March. pic.twitter.com/SOjy3bt4l5
— Chef Andrew Gruel (@ChefGruel) December 3, 2020
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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