Toronto restaurant asking unvaccinated people to sit outside
A Toronto restaurant is requesting that unvaccinated patrons now choose to sit outdoors.
Oakwood Hardware Food & Drink, located at 337 Oakwood Avenue in York, made the announcement on their Instagram account, run by owner and chef Anne Sorrenti, Sunday.
“With the volatility of the weather and our limited capacity to have diners indoors, we ask respectfully that if you are not vaccinated, that you choose outdoor dining when available,” the restaurant’s statement reads.
Ownership is underlining that this is a recommendation and that they will be operating on the honour system.
“Notice that I said choose - this is on an honour system and we would hope that people would understand that the well-being of our staff and clientele combined with the precarious nature of lockdowns have us wary.”
While the business specified that all of their employees are vaccinated, they said the decision is not meant to be a debate on vaccines.
“It is about the fact that since there is no provincially mandated “passport,” each business has to make up [their] own guidelines with regard to vaccinated [and] unvaccinated diners indoors,” the statement reads.
On Tuesday, Toronto city councillor Josh Matlow spoke out on Oakwood Hardware's decision, stating that he was "proud" of them.
"[Oakwood Hardware] is an amazing restaurant in the heart of our Oakwood-Vaughan community. They’re asking those who aren’t vaccinated to dine outside. A gutsy & smart move to protect their customers’ health. I’m proud of them. Their cooking also happens to be so damn good," Matlow wrote on his Twitter account.
Meanwhile, Oakwood Hardware is acknowledging that their decision may lose them some customers.
“I do not set these parameters without full awareness that it may impact business adversely with some of you,” the statement reads.
“Be that as it may, we require masks indoors and in public spaces when not eating or drinking, contact tracing, and we expect that these minor asks will make us all a little safer.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.