Remember when people gathered to share food and drink and good times together? When we were out in public without masks and not worried about the proximity of others? Do you think it will ever be like that again?

The hospitality industry has been devastated by this pandemic. I have seen suggestions that between a third to a half of Canadian restaurants will close permanently. The industry isn’t designed to be take-out only. Or at least it hasn’t been.

It is too early to know if this pandemic will bring about permanent change in our dining habits. I kind of hope it doesn’t. I don’t eat out often, being too frugal to pay someone else to cook something I can make better at home, but I do enjoy the odd time out and the break from cooking.

That is especially true when the menu features food I don’t usually make at home. Such as that found at Vienna’s Café Central. I’m not much of a baker, and their desserts are sensational.

Or they were when I was there in December 2018. People were lined up down the street to get in on a Sunday morning. (The police weren’t happy with the crowd spilling onto the roadway.) People have been coming here for coffee and cake since 1876, tourists and locals alike. The place has atmosphere and good food – what more can you ask?

These days Café Central is closed, pandemic regulations being what they are. But one of these days cafés, restaurants and bars will open again and people will be able to celebrate life together.

That is the hope anyway.