A Destination Stratford program that was born out of the early days of the pandemic to support struggling restaurant operations has been so successful that city council has once again approved an expansion.
A Destination Stratford program that was born out of the early days of the pandemic to support struggling restaurant operations has been so successful that city council has once again approved an expansion.
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Council voted unanimously to amend its Consumption of Liquor with Food in Designated Public Places by law to allow the tourism agency to now run the Al Fresco program year-round. With these changes, the program now allows the consumption of liquor with food in all of its permitted areas from Sunday to Thursday from 11 am to 8 pm, and Friday to Saturday from 11 am to 9 pm
Al Fresco was the first program that Destination Stratford implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While organically created in response to restaurants having limited — or even no — capacity during the pandemic’s gathering restrictions, the Al Fresco program was viewed as still having enormous potential, said Destination Stratford’s executive director, Zac Gribble
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“It was in response to a crisis, but we were also very keen on trying to create something that would last beyond the crisis and what would strengthen the community as the project rolled out each year,” Gribble said.
“In the early days when restaurants in the pandemic couldn’t invite anyone indoors, the province relaxed things a little bit in terms of food and alcohol and takeout, and we saw a window of opportunity for this city to take a more European approach to dining in public spaces, which Ontario was not known for.”
The program, Gribble noted, currently has 12 restaurants participating and has provided more than $750,000 of annual economic activity. The Savor & Sip Trail, another tourism initiative that provides dinners with vouchers to different restaurants to create a self-curated picnic, came directly out of the Al Fresco program, Gribble added.
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“If you go through Market Square, at least in fair weather pretty much any afternoon during the patio season, it’s got lots of activity there, and much of that is due to Al Fresco. There’s seating, and there’s an opportunity to go dine outdoors — same with areas like Tom Patterson Island and throughout the park system. Significant outdoor dining is happening that is in direct support of our local restaurants and food producers,” Girbble said.
The program has seen a lot changes since it was first implemented, including special labels being put on the drinks and a ban on glass bottles, which means wines could not be included. Expansion of the program comes out of a month-long pilot program during last year’s Lights On Stratford event. There has also been “excellent support from council” for the program, Gribble added.
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“I give a lot of credit to the city and to our council and the previous council for willing to go on a journey to experiment and to run a pilot project and get a proof of concept up and running, and then continue to grow it in a responsible way,” he said.
While there were some initial concerns about having more alcohol consumption in more areas, those have long waned, Gribble said.
“In our fifth year of implementing this, I think it’s fair to say that there are no more or no less issues that happen in our public spaces as a result of the Al Fresco program, and that’s why the city and council have approved it unanimously . It did have to get proven out. …Those fears definitely existed, but we were very careful to take a lifetime value approach,” he said.
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