Crisis for some, Opportunity for others

As restaurants across America were forced to close their doors (to prevent the spread of the virus), an award-winning restaurant in Seattle - Canlis, celebrated their re-launch.

The restaurant had been operating for 68 years and was well-known for serving four-course meals of around $135. The restaurant responded to the lockdown chaos by choosing to adapt quickly and fulfill new customer needs.

Canlis spent around 1 week re-designing their restaurant services from the ground up.

They got their hands on two additional fryers. They turned a large shipping container in their garden into a mini-bagel bakery. They started serving family meals consisting of $14 burgers, bagels and bottled wine.

In just a few days, Canlis transformed from ‘high-end dining’ to ‘home-cooked dinners delivered to your door with no contact.’

Canlis created new communication processes that send SMS messages to 1. Confirm the order 2. Notify the customer that their food is en route 3. Notify the customer that their food has been delivered to their front door.

They use a 3rd party online system for customers to place orders and their menu changes daily to accommodate for the delays with getting access to stock from their food suppliers.

And if you still want that ‘fine-dining feel’ you can request one of their sommeliers to contact you. The sommeliers will pair several bottles of wine with each meal, that can be picked up or delivered in Seattle.

On busier nights, a pianist plays ambient music from their venue with a beautiful backdrop and this experience is shared with everyone via YouTube livestream.

The restaurant’s 115 employees (previously working as servers, now run their delivery service) have all kept their jobs and are busier than ever.

Canlis even expanded their business since their transformation and created 3 different pop-up locations.

For a restaurant that had been operating as ‘fine-dining’ for almost 7 decades, they are now selling 1,000 burgers a day, around 500 bagels and 200 to-go dinners.

It’s safe to say they’re not starving.

Key lessons:

• Your business is a reflection of your values and your capabilities.
• Be more excited about your future that you were about the past.
• If you’re willing to embrace temporary incompetence, you can be presented with a lifetime of infinite opportunities.

On a side note, big thanks to Tom Panos for sending out such relevant and inspiring daily emails.