Long-time local restaurateur, Wendy Kuo of the Szechwan Chinese Kitchen is worried they will not survive the Summit County Health Department’s order to shut down open dining in their Kimball Junction restaurant.
Nicole Kuo Stankovic was raised in Park City and her mother Wendy Kuo has been the sole owner of Szechwan Chinese Kitchen since it first opened on Main Street 31-years ago. She’s worried the shut-down will put her mother out of business. Stankovic and her sister were raised in Park City and attended Park City High School. She says she listened to the news reports as the public health emergency order unfolded last weekend and felt shocked by how some of the smaller restaurant owners were being left in the dark.
“I guess it’s just a little problematic to me that Bill White admitted that the County would not take such drastic action until he pressured them. I think that's a bit wrong. Sezchwan and businesses like ours might not be part of the Park City Restaurant Association but our voices matter too, and our local employees, their voices matter even more.”
On Saturday morning, she says her mother received an email from the county saying they would be able to remain open. She says it was 5 PM on Sunday when they first heard of the health emergency order taking affect. She says they heard ski resorts were closing Saturday afternoon but because they do so much local business, they weren’t concerned.
“I think we can both agree that we’re all reeling from what’s happened within the course of a weekend. I think that our community has heard a lot from people like Bill White and people from big associations and people from the County, who ignored the working class and small family owned businesses, when they were making this decision.”
She acknowledges the need to slow down the spread of the virus. Her mother’s restaurant is $10,000 a month in rent and she appreciates the kind efforts from the non-profits in town. However, she doesn’t see how the charitable efforts and donations will help when trying to keep the business solvent.
“So, this is a bigger conversation about what we can do. And, I heard Rob Harter talk about need based assistance and that's something that people have to actively ask for and like Leslie alluded to earlier, not everyone will know how to ask for help, or be willing to. So, there's not even a guarantee on whether the people who asked for it will even get it in time.”
Stankovic has tried to reach out to the landlord and the HOA to ask for dispensation that would allow them to delay rent until they can reopen. They reach busy signals and interminable holds and then are cut off. She wants help.
“I definitely want the county to at least try to help us. Pressure the landlord, the building owners, the HOA for instance and just help us convince them that it's not right for them to be making money when we are not.”
Stankovic goes to school in Seattle and supports the public health needs of the Park City community. She says for now the restaurant will be open for curbside, take-out orders.
