Laura, Havelock North

My biggest fear, I think, is how much people and interactions could change. The comfort that people once felt in the presence of others could be replaced by a greater comfort in being alone.

I’m Laura, I’m 25 … ok, ok I’m 35 years old, I am from Italy but am living in Havelock North, and I am the owner and operator of a beautiful pasta restaurant called Sazio.

I am in lockdown with my beautiful dog Bella and my husband Rob. Rob is an essential worker, so he’s only here part time. He is my hero, out there harvesting all those grapes, day after day, so that I can keep up my alcoholism (laughs). Also, we have Kathy – Rob’s mum – in our bubble with us. She lives on her own, and I’m pretty much on my own at the moment, so now and again she will come over to help. I injured myself in my knee just before the lockdown, so I’m not really able to do things like take my beautiful dog for a walk … so Kathy is my legs.

Before all this happened, I used to wake up at 7.30 every morning, have my six cups of coffee and read the news. By 9.30am I would usually drive to my beautiful restaurant where I would take on the daily administration and running of the restaurant. Cleaning, ordering, checking menus, checking up about money, seeing how many people are walking through the door … just the everyday life of a restaurateur. I’m still doing some of it, except now I don’t go anywhere, I just move from my bed to the couch or the desk.

The restaurant was such a new adventure for us. We’d only been open for two months, which is not long, not long at all. We worked so hard, day and night, to get it open and running, then finally, when we were just starting to find our feet and really enjoy the whole process, we had to shut down. It’s crazy because now we will have to do a reopening and it will probably be completely different. It’s very exciting from one side, and very scary from another side. Like we’re doing everything from zero again.

My biggest fear, I think, is how much people and interactions could change. The comfort that people once felt in the presence of others could be replaced by a greater comfort in being alone, and maybe we will move more and more to an online kind of life. In terms of my beautiful Sazio, my biggest fear is that we will have less communal dining. Right now, what you see on social media is like, everyone is making bread or banana bread, everyone is cooking … which is great, because people are having the realisation of, ‘Oh my god, I actually love to cook at home!’ But my fear is there’ll be less and less going out and eating in restaurants and cafes. With a restaurant, you are not just going out for a meal, you’re going out for an experience. An experience we try so hard to create at Sazio. I’m worried communal dining will replaced by a new form of dining. A new normal. And, even if people don’t stick with the cooking, they are probably going to want takeaway more. Delivery will triumph over everything else.

I worry we might start to appreciate human company in a different way. Fear of contact could exist in our minds for quite a long time, not just during this lockdown. Physical approach could change and so industries like hospitality will have to change with it, and change drastically. I do think after all this isolation time people will start communicating more and appreciating each other more … but this fear of contact could stick unconsciously to the back of your brain for a long, long time. They say it takes 21 days to make a habit, and this lockdown is more than 21 days … it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot.

With my family being in Italy … I think when you live away from your family, there’s always the fear that you’re going to be too far away if something happens. I’d been a little bit … up and downs, you know? I’ve got my grandma over there and if she gets something like this, she’s not going to survive. Not just because of the disease itself, but because in Italy, if you are over 75 at the moment then you don’t receive any care. There are no beds in the hospitals, there are no doctors to look after everyone. It’s been an extra stress for me. But I think the greatest thing to come out of this – well it’s kind of apparent, but I think it’s online communication. This pandemic creates more distance, but yet also creates more connection between people. I’ve spoken to every member of my family in Italy, at least twice a day, and every single friend that maybe I don’t usually talk to during the year. There has been a surge of communication, making sure everyone is ok. So, I’m feeling ok now about Italy. Everyone I love is safe and things are getting better.

How have I been keeping my spirits up? Wine. My drinking consumption has gone a little bit up. Not that much, I mean, I try my best not to get into the bottle too early … but yes, wine has been helping! No, every morning I’ve got my little routine. Wake up, read the news, drink my six coffees … that’s still the same. And I still have my fashion. It’s a really big side of me. I put a bit of make up on – not much, just enough to feel good – and I carefully choose from my wardrobe what to put on for the day. I love it. I read a lot, I’ve finally found the time to pick up a book and read it. I’m listening to podcasts every morning, especially ones about businesses and restaurateurs around the world, talking about how this will affect our industry. I would love to exercise but I am injured. Actually, I get mad just thinking about it … instead I am replacing exercising with numerous snacks during the day. I will become really, really fat. I am eating my way out of this lockdown. And I’m playing with my dog a lot.

I feel that we need to try to get the best out of this. We have all been waiting for a new beginning and now we’ve got plenty of opportunities in front of us. People adapt so fast and we’re all getting more creative and finding new ways of doing business. New ways of doing life. I find this really stimulating. We’ve been given this chance to reinvent ourselves as a collective. To be better. Better for us, better for the community, and better for nature. I really believe that this is all nature, that she is sick of us. I think she’s teaching us a lesson.

Sazio.

Rob, Bella and Laura.

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