Where there's a will there's a way

Nobody’s written a book on how to open a business in the middle of a pandemic, Elise Landry said, but if it’s something you have to do, hope for the good timing she experienced with her new restaurant Chicory.

“All things considered, the timing of it was about as fortunate for us as it could have been. It wasn’t like we had just opened and had to close again, and it also wasn’t like we had to lay off a whole bunch of staff,” Landry said.

Chicory is a casual fine-dining joint at 111 Columbia St. NW in downtown Olympia. Landry is the chef and co-owns the restaurant with her husband Adam Wagner. Their menu “highlights the abundance of the Pacific Northwest,” boasts the restaurant’s website.

Owning a restaurant was something Landry wanted to do for about a decade and when the pieces started to fall into place, everything seemed perfect.

“Almost too perfect,” she said.

They got the keys to the spot in mid-February, and within weeks many businesses in Olympia (and the nation) would close down thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. But in the meantime, there was a large to-do list for the small staff of Chicory, as they were working in the building to get things built. Luckily, hardware stores stayed open, Landry said.

“It really wasn’t in our best interest to try to speculate too much for how things were going to shake out, because there was a lot of work to do here,” she added.

Eventually, she began seeing how other restaurants were transitioning from sit-down to other means of operations. It was obvious that Chicory wasn’t going to look exactly as they had planned.

Landry and Wagner opened their doors July 29, during Phase 3 of the state’s Safe Start plan. That meant they needed to follow some stringent safety measures in order to serve customers. Their staff wear masks and the restaurant layout is organized so that the tables and booths sit well beyond 6 feet apart on the wood floor. The kitchen is big enough for Landry and two others to work while socially distancing. A sign at the door tells customers they must wear masks inside the restaurant in accordance with state mandates.

When Landry and Wagner opened the restaurant in July, dinner was the only meal they served.

“The name of the game from the beginning has been to start small and make sure we can execute the menu … with the amount of people that we have and then go from there,” Landry said.

Since then, they’ve expanded to include a lunch menu and Sunday brunch. They serve dishes like blackened rockfish, smoked mussels toast and sheep’s milk galette.

Business seemed a bit inconsistent at first, but it has since leveled out. Landry noted it “could be better.”

“I wish we were three times busier than we are now.’

There’s not a lot of guidance out there on how to start a business during a pandemic, but Landry said you need to stay positive. And if there’s one thing to hold onto it’s that if the business can survive the pandemic, it can survive just about anything.

“Whatever post-pandemic looks like, we will be fine,” Landry said.

Chicory is open for carry-out from noon to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and dine-in from 5-9 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Brunch is served from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.