What are restaurants going to look like as we pull out of these uncharted times? The Mercury decided to go to Dan Kibble of Fratelli Roma to see how he has survived, and how he sees the future.
Dan Kibble gets emotional over what he and his team at Fratelli Roma have been through.
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And that's why criticism on social media as he was changing to home delivery and takeaway really stings. A lot.
After serving up some of Maitland's finest food at his Italian eatery for 13 years, he is entitled to feel he deserves better.
"I'd much rather people pick the phone up and tell me personally if they've had a bad experience," he says. "Then we could work to fix it. Believe me, I'd much rather have things continued as normal with a restaurant full of diners every week, many of them regulars.
"But we've been forced into this brand new situation that no one could possibly prepare for and we're making up a new business model on the run.
"I've tried things, some have worked and some haven't, but it has been part of the adapting process."
It's also that honesty that leaves you in no doubt he'll get it right.
Kibble acknowledges that his response to a COVID-19 lockdown is evolving and will continue to be that way for some time to come.
Here's how his business stands.
Right now he is allowed 10 people back in the restaurant which he said, brought such smiles to his staff's faces because "it was so strange working in an empty restaurant".
And now that social distancing restrictions are being eased, he will be allowed more people from next week.
At the same time the takeaway side of the business, something he was somewhat reluctant to embrace, has done well and is here to stay for the immediate future at least - and maybe longer.
"As far as dining in goes, we still have limited floor space, so we can't accommodate 50 people at the moment," he said.
"We can fit in about 26 people, so I think we'll do two sittings of 20 people each, say two hours a sitting," he said.
"That will give us enough time to also look after the takeaway side of things which has been going really well. Takeaway has been one of the few luxuries available to people."
The streamlining of the operation has meant that he has rewritten his menus so that the one menu can cover both dine in and takeaway.
"I've scrapped some dishes altogether. For example there's not much point having a $60 Angus steak cooked medium rare sitting in a box, getting cold waiting to be picked up.
"So we've tailored things a bit. We're also doing 20-minute takeaway collection. That way we're not overstretching the kitchen. We don't want people standing outside in the cold waiting for their meal, just as we don't suddenly want to be swamped by 20 takeaway orders all coming in at the same time. We've got to get it right."
Has there been any negative feedback about the takeaway window option?
"Not really. We're serving it out through a window, and we've organised potplants to try to act as a buffer between the dine in and takeaway."
He sees takeaway as a niche in the dining scene that might be here to stay.
"In the past takeaway means tended to be pizza, Asian and Indian - but that's all up for grabs again now," he said.
"We might have a market for good Italian takeaway, slightly cheaper but maintaining quality, by the look of things. And that's especially so mid-week.
"Eating at the restaurant is a night out, but certainly takeaway to eat at home with the family is doing well for us.
"Whether it stays that way is the question. As I said, this is all new. But it might be that dining has changed for the foreseeable future. This might be the new normal."
He said wine takeaway has not been a factor and is happy to leave it to other outlets to make that their specialty.
"We get some wonderful locals who want to support the local businesses, and they'll come here for a takeaway pasta, then go up the road to the Pourhouse for example, to get their drink.
"I think that's terrific.
"At the end of the day we came into this not really knowing how it would play out and at times I felt like a dead man walking.
"Similarly, I don't know how it will evolve from here. We can only keep adapting.
"But we've been here for 13 years, most of my staff have been with me for years, and I'm proud of the way we've handled this during really difficult times."
