Restaurant industry vows to survive: "We're fighters'

"As chefs and people in this industry, we tend to do a lot of our craft based on inspiration. Right now, the inspiration is out the door. You just want the day to be over to move to the next one," the Top Chef alum said while sitting inside his restaurant, High Horse, in downtown Raleigh's City Market.

"It's not so much about me. It's more about my three employees. Making sure they're getting money in their pockets," Tanabe said.

Still, the restaurant soldiers on with take-out orders.

"Every time we give someone to-go food are we exposing ourselves, are we doing the right thing," Tanabe said. "It's the fear of getting sick..then maybe even dying."

Just over a mile away, Scott Crawford is taking it one day at a time.

"I've been in recovery for 15 years, and that one day at a time saying really does work," Crawford says sitting inside his restaurant Crawford and Son on Person Street.

As the coronavirus pandemic expanded and Gov. Roy Cooper mandated all dine-in restaurant service to cease in the state, Crawford and other restaurant owners struggled to adjust.

"Last week was without question the most stressful week I've had in my career. And that's saying a lot because this is a stressful industry," Crawford said. "I think the state of shock was something we all had to operate within for a period of at least three or four days before it really sunk in what was truly happening."

Like others, Crawford has had to furlough employees at his restaurants.

On Wednesday, through customer donations Crawford was able to purchase 60 meals from nearby Backyard Bistro to be delivered to members of his furloughed staff and their families.

"We started..then to feel some hope and some positivity creeping in from a situation that none of us can control," Crawford said.

With an uncertain future ahead, chefs are relying on each other.

"Everybody is like embracing each other, like 'hey, what do you need?'" he said.

For Crawford, the fight to come back after this pandemic isn't something he's ready to give up on.

"If there is an industry of fighters it is definitely this one. We want to get back to do what we do when health officials tell us it's safe to do so and we look forward to that" he said. "In the meantime, we'll do whatever is right and good, no matter how hard the work is."