Closed // Open

CS - What have you learned or discovered about you, your restaurant or your team that you didn’t know before the pandemic?

MO - I think this showed me how much of a control freak I was. I knew I wanted control of everything, but I think this really brought it out. The first two weeks I was losing sleep, trying to control everything and trying to understand what was happening. After the first two weeks I thought “we’re spinning out of control.” This lack of control wasn’t because I wasn’t doing my job, it was just the unknown. There’s so much unknown, therefore you can’t make decisions that make you feel like you’re in control.

CS - I remember you and I exchanged a text where I asked if there was a longer email coming, regarding everything that was happening and you said “there probably is a longer one, but I don’t know when that’s coming.”

MO - I still don’t know. I know we have the [Danish government aid] packages. It’s an ongoing process.

CS - Do you think you’ll come out of this wanting to be more in control? Or, do you think you’ve learned that you can’t control everything?

MO - I think I’ve learned a bit more patience. Sometimes solutions take time to present themselves. There’s been a lot of reevaluating decisions I’ve made in the past. What I’ve now discovered is that maybe if I had just been a little more patient, more information would have presented itself, allowing me to make a better decision. So, I think yes, I’ll be a little less controlling, but at the same time, I’ll try to be patient and make more calculated decisions.

CS - So has this reaffirmed your desire for control?

MO - Not control, information. In need of information. [laughs]

CS - I’ve read in numerous outlets about the impact on business. But what about the emotional toll of this. How has this abrupt shut down affected you emotionally?

MO - This literally happened a few days ago. I was writing an email to one of our investors. I’m a very optimistic, glass is half-full person. I found myself sending these emails over the last five weeks and when I’ve gone back to read them, they’re pessimistic and dark. I’ve never been that person. I’ve never approached situations like that. That’s hard to swallow. It’s so much part of my persona. For my staff, I’m trying to project this sense of confidence, that I know which way we’re going to go. But then you sit down with your staff and you’re like “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen two weeks from now.” You have to make decisions you thought you’d never have to make, you have to pull the business in directions you never thought. When you’re not mentally prepared for that and you’re thrust into that situation, emotionally, that’s worn on me the most.

CS - What’s the goal right now?

MO - Staying alive. For me this place is a place of progression. We’re looking for the next thing constantly. And then suddenly, that’s not a priority anymore. 

CS - I read an article where someone said restaurants will close and in many instances, that’s someone’s life’s work.

MO - There’s no other space on Earth, not even my house, that represents me more. This is truly my life. There’s so many components of the space that represent my life.

CS - This is like home number two.

MO - Oh yeah. It’s scary. Nothing’s for sure. We could have the best plan for this place, but what if the guests don’t come? One thing I wrote to the managers is that, in past conversations, we’ve said “oh, I don’t know, that doesn't really fit into the DNA of Amass” or “that isn’t really what we do here.” Those two phrases are no longer part of our vocabulary. If we’re going to survive on the other side of this, we need to be ready to do anything.

CS - Most are predicting this shut down will profoundly affect service industry businesses. Has this made you evaluate how Amass operated prior to, and how it might operate after? Do you foresee lasting changes as a consequence of the pandemic?

MO - Absolutely. Yes to all. Every restaurant, not just Amass, is going to have to adapt. Restaurants, moving forward, are going to have to adapt. I’ve had numerous conversations with friends in Europe and the States over the past five weeks about what they’re going to do, how they’re going to adapt and everyone is getting very creative. Everyone just wants to make it to the other side. No one wants restaurants to close, I don’t want a single restaurant to close. But they’re predicting somewhere between 40 and 50 percent of restaurants in the world will close. I can’t wrap my head around that.

CS - So how about changes? Do you foresee a time where you’ll go back to what you had always done, or do you see this as a course alteration for Amass?

MO - I see this more as an opportunity to explore things we’ve talked about. Again, in the past, we thought “that’s not what we do” or “that could muddy the brand.” I think what we’re planning on doing here, it’s not going to surprise people that we do it. Amass has always kind of gone against the grain of what a fine dining restaurant is. So I think for us to go one step further, by still operating Amass in one part of the room, and then the Amass Fried Chicken and natural wine bar in the other, I can’t wait to see what the atmosphere is like in this room. If you have 30 people over there drinking wine and eating fried chicken, and then people over here having a six-course tasting menu, that’s awesome.

CS - Finally, do you see anything positive coming out of this?

MO - I do. A few things. I think that this whole situation will hopefully bring to light how vulnerable the hospitality industry is and that, just because you’re successful in this industry, doesn’t mean you make money. The more media attention you have, the less money you make. It costs a lot of money to run a restaurant like this. No one sits on a lot of liquidity. I read something recently that said, at any moment in time, if the average restaurant were to shut their doors and had no income, but had to pay their staff and rent, they’d have a maximum 26 day lifespan. So I’m hoping this will put a bit of understanding about how hard it is to run a restaurant and how hard people work, and it’s not for the money. I think for me personally, the most exciting, positive aspect of this is, I believe the restaurant industry has become quite stymied. Everyone’s trying to find the formula to stay on the lists, so I think the creative process that comes out of this is going to be amazing. The industry is going to be forced to evolve in a way that would have never happened. We would have never thought of splitting the dining room in half to run a less expensive version of Amass on one side of the room and a fried chicken and natural wine bar on the other. Never. So I’m excited to see the ways in which restaurateurs adapt. It’s going to be exciting.