With Premier Ford’s recent announcement of how the province will re-open over the coming months, we thought we would share the overall plan here for your reference, but also detail out what that means for visiting us at Wander Food & Wine this summer and fall.
Please note that we have not yet received official instructions on masking/distancing rules from Public Health Sudbury & District for outdoor dining this summer and what indoor rules will be like this fall.
Masks will be still be required for ALL guests visiting us unless they are seated at their table until PHSD relaxes the rules.
This applies to ALL guests - regardless of whether they are fully vaccinated with 2 vaccines.
If we hear otherwise, we will update here via this blog, in our newsletter and on social media.
Wander - Stage 1
As we do not have an exact re-open date the week of June 14th (or that it will still be on track for that week at all or even possibly sooner), we have decided to play it safe and reschedule the in-person classes & events for that week and just focus on opening the patio and launching the new menu.
We will change the online reservation system to reflect the new operating hours the week before (or as soon as we get the word that we can open) and will be capping all table reservations to a maximum of 4 guests per table on the patio. With our planned setup, that will allow for a maximum of 6 tables with a 2-hour time limit for all reservations.
Guests can continue to make reservations for up to 4 guests into Stage 2, but we will not change the reservation system to allow for 6 guests per table until the province announces a specific date that we are safe to do so.
We will also be able to book private group events on our patio during this first stage for up to 10 guests maximum and will still need to be booked in groups of maximum 4 per table. Click here to email Sidney to inquire.
Wander - Stage 2
We will change our online reservation system to allow for a maximum of 6 guests per table. We still have enough room for 6 tables in total but only as space allows for social distancing (which will still be one of the restrictions for patio dining throughout the summer).
We will be able to book private group events on our patio for up to 25 guests at this stage but will need to seat everyone in groups of maximum 6 per table. Click here to email Sidney to inquire.
Wander - Stage 3
We will change our online reservation system to allow reservations for indoor dining when the province allows us to do so. We could have a maximum of 4-6 tables again like when we were open earlier this year or, if our provincial stats are at a good enough level, we could allow for larger groups at the front and back of the bar and even allow for bar seating at that time.
Bar seating will still remain first come, first serve again to allow for walk-ins.
We will be booking private outdoor group events on our patio until patio season closes in October. Indoor private group bookings may be made but as we do not yet know what the restrictions or rules are for indoor dining at this time, we will update everyone at the time that these rules are conveyed to us. To inquire about booking something this fall, click here to email Sidney to start the event booking process.
We are anticipating that there will still be some masking restrictions for indoor dining this fall but we will update everyone as we hear our instructions from PHSD.
FAQs
Q. Will you still sell your wine tasting kits?
A. Yes! We understand that there will still be many people are nervous about dining with us in-person or attending one of our in-person classes right away and so we will continue to sell them through our online ordering system throughout the summer and fall seasons.
Q. Will you be open for lunch?
A. We are going to “dip our toe in the water” this summer by starting to be open Fridays for lunch starting this June on the patio. If we see consistent attendance for lunch, we will add on one or more days as we go along through the summer and beyond. It will be a different menu, however. Menu announcements will be made during tonight’s Happy Hour on Facebook. (Video will be uploaded here over the weekend and on our YouTube channel.)
Q. Are you going to be open late on weekends this summer?
A. We are still awaiting details from PHSD, but as there have been no mentions about closing times, we are hoping to be able to open until 11pm Fridays and Saturdays. We will open at 4pm Tuesday to Saturday this summer and may adjust back to 5pm in the fall.
Q. What if I want to dine with a group of 5 friends on the patio (group of 6) during the first stage? Can we just sit apart?
A. Yes. If you are willing to divide into two tables of 4 and 2 or 3 and 3 and keep the tables at a 6ft distance or use one of our PVC barriers in between, you can do so.
Q. If it’s a beautiful evening and we want to stay longer than 2 hours, can we?
A. If there are no reservations for your table arriving after your 2 hour time limit is up, you can definitely stay right up until closing time. Your server will let you know when you arrive how busy we are and you can just let us know at that time that you would like to stay longer so we can organize our tables and staffing accordingly.
Q. We booked a group of 6 for one of the in-person wine tasting classes this summer. Will we have to split up?
A. Depending on what ”stage” we are in and what the maximum allowed is per table, we will be reaching out early to all larger groups the week before each class to confirm the rules and let you decide on how the seating will be arranged and whether or not you just want to reschedule to a class later in the season so you can sit together. We constantly monitor our ticket sales and adjust the ticket count according to provincial guidelines on tables and seating so just be sure that if you have a ticket, it won’t be cancelled. We only sell what we can seat comfortably.
Q. My husband and I have had both of our vaccines. Will we have to bring or wear masks to dine on your patio?
A. For the time being, yes. You will need to wear a mask to enter our patio area until you are seated and you will need to wear a mask to leave your table or come inside the bar for any reason. Once the province and/or PHSD say otherwise, we will be enforcing the same masking rules as we have had before. (Our staff will mostly be fully vaccinated by the end of the summer as well but will still be masked when coming within 6ft of your table until instructed otherwise.)
Q. Are you planning any special events this summer?
A. Besides our wine tasting classes, we are still looking forward to special “Wanderer Events” that only our newsletter subscribers hear about and we are working with a number of local organizations to bring in music, art and other fun add-ons to add to our patio atmosphere throughout the summer. Fall programming will wait until we know the new rules and restrictions for indoor dining. To keep up with what events we have planned, click here to see our Event Calendar.
To subscribe to our newsletter and become a fellow “Wanderer”, you can subscribe by filling out the little form below.