By Bob Sanders, NH Business Review 

​A group of 23 hotels – including four in New Hampshire – is suing their insurance companies, claiming that they were refused coverage for their pandemic losses even though they were not excluded by their coverage.
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The group, led by New Hampshire-based Schleicher and Stebbins Hotels (S&S), a hotel management company, filed the suit in June in Merrimack County Superior Court. The first hearing was held on the matter last Thursday in what promises to be lengthy litigation.

Daymond Steer, Conway Daily Sun

CONCORD -- Gov. Chris Sununu told The Washington Post in a Tuesday interview he predicts the summer season in New Hampshire will look more like 2019 than 2020 thanks to a swift rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Sununu was speaking to Post columnist Karen Tumulty about his reopening plans as part of the Post's "Leadership During a Crisis" online series.

The Post credited Sununu with, among other things, "swiftly" expanding unemployment benefits, securing tens of millions of personal protective equipment and creating a system to oversee the "fair and transparent disbursement" of $1.25 billion in CARES Act money.

By Kyle Stucker, Fosters Daily Democrat

DOVER -- As Seacoast restaurants continue to struggle to staff their kitchens due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the local hiring pool, Jon Kiper is among the area restaurant owners who say they’ve turned to new strategies to fill open positions.
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“Four of my six employees are now high school students,” said Kiper, the owner of Jonny Boston’s International Restaurant in Newmarket, noting the employees had no kitchen experience. “Three years ago, I didn’t want to hire anyone under 18 because I was worried about liability and stuff. So far, they’ve been great.”

He said his success with eager, hard-working high schoolers helps him be cautiously optimistic about the future of Jonny Boston’s as he and other area small business owners await firm details about the relief coming to their restaurants through the newly passed American Rescue Plan.

By Kimberley Haas, Union Leader Correspondent

The owner of a Mexican restaurant in Portsmouth is raising money on Wednesday to help migrant workers by commemorating the birth and legacy of labor activist Cesar Chavez.
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Chef David Vargas, owner of Vida Cantina on Lafayette Road, said the food system has remained stable throughout the COVID-19 pandemic because of the workers who pick and collect the food people eat.

“When they go to the grocery store, I don’t think people understand where their food is coming from,” Vargas said.

Vargas has recruited other chefs from throughout the East Coast to participate in the fundraising efforts. They are each preparing a cauliflower dish and proceeds from the sales will go to nonprofit organizations.

By Jonathan Phelps, New Hampshire Union Leader

​A FEW MONTHS before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the AC Hotel in Portsmouth’s North End opened.
The hotel features a ballroom on the third floor that overlooks the Piscataqua River designed to host weddings, special events and corporate meetings for up to 300. The space was used only a few times before the hotel was forced to shut down in March of last year.
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Now, Colwen Hotels, which manages the property, is hiring a new banquet manager as interest in everything from baby showers, bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings is on the rise.

“People have put those off for a long time, and they’re anxious to get them back,” said Ron Rockelein, vice president of operations. “We are seeing a big increase in inquiries.”

He said the company is “cautiously optimistic” about getting functions back. The hotel can operate at 100% but must abide by state and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

By Bob Sanders, NH Business Review

Customers would still be able to order a large bottle of wine or 16 bottles of beer along with their takeout meal even after the pandemic emergency order ends, if Senate Bill 66 is approved by the New Hampshire Legislature.

Under the bill, restaurants would have to pay $250 for a license to do it.

The House Commerce Committee on Tuesday held a hearing on SB 66, a little over a year after Gov. Chris Sununu issued his emergency order that allowed restaurants to sell wine and beer that way.

Most restaurants have reopened, but with indoor seating limited, deliveries still make up a substantial portion of their business, and liquor could help lubricate those sales, said Mike Somers, president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association.
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“We had a very tough year,” he told the panel. Sale of wine and beer, he added, “is not a big part of our business, but it is important part.”
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By Jonathan Phelps, New Hampshire Union Leader

CELEBRITY CHEF Guy Fieri has opened his latest dining concept in New Hampshire, but don’t go looking to make a reservation.

Flavortown Kitchen is delivery only. The concept is known as a “ghost kitchen.”
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In this case, the “Real Cheezy Burger” and “Flavortown Fries” are made at the Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta in Nashua, Manchester and Salem. The orders are then delivered by third-party services such as Grubhub, DoorDash, Postmates, UberEats and Seamless.

By Kevin Landrigan, New Hampshire Union Leader

New Hampshire restaurant owners praised U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen for voting against making a minimum wage increase part of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.
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Tom Boucher, the owner of the Great NH Restaurants chain, said he supports raising the minimum wage but not doubling it in the midst of a pandemic.

“I know you took a lot of arrows for the position you took on minimum wage. It was the right thing to do,” Boucher told Shaheen during an online meeting with hospitality industry leaders from across the state.

“It needs to be a stand-alone bill,” Boucher said. “I do agree we need to have some kind of attention to the teenaged wage. A 16- or 17-year-old should not be making the same as a 30-year-old minimum wage worker. We are raising wages every year. We are continuing that, 50 cents a year, getting up to a $15 an hour minimum wage in six years. That’s the way to do it.”

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By Michael Cousineau, New Hampshire Union Leader
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A year ago, patrons at Taj India in Manchester’s downtown could serve themselves curry from the lunch buffet.

Today, servers bring individual stainless steel trays of food to customers’ tables with the option of another helping at no additional cost.

“They can eat as much as they can,” owner Rakesh Kumar said last week. “If someone wants more chicken, you can have more chicken.”

Kumar said he could assign workers to serve customers at the buffet station, but with many office workers toiling remotely, he doesn’t have the crowds yet at his Elm Street restaurant.
Customers surely don’t derive the same joy as scanning the buffet choices and spooning an unfamiliar option on their plate to taste test.

The pandemic — which has quelled many joyful acts, big and small — is approaching the first anniversary of Gov. Chris Sununu’s order last March 16 banning indoor dining for what turned out to be months. Today, many people remain leery of eating indoors until they are vaccinated.

 By Katie Hoppler

The number of seats, tables and umbrellas outdoors will begin to rise with the temperatures as many New Hampshire cities and towns again have approved allowing restaurants to offer outdoor dining in 2021.
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Manchester, Nashua, Concord, Derry, Portsmouth, Dover, Salem, Merrimack, Keene, Bedford, Exeter, Hanover, Lebanon, North Conway, Rochester and Peterborough are among the communities that have already approved outdoor dining for 2021.

Many restaurants said outdoor dining helped mitigate the effects of the pandemic last year.