New cafe opens doors for the first time since pandemic
LOS ANGELES - The LA County Public Health Department visited 2,000 restaurants last weekend and found that half were not following safety guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19. Dr. Barbara Ferrer acknowledged that there’s a lot of confusion and she said her team would revisit those eateries to educate them on how to serve people while in compliance.
That same day, a new café opened its doors for the first time.
Strings of Life (S.O.L.) had intended on opening right before the stay-at-home orders in March. Once that opening day had to change, the crew worked on installing the markings on the ground to keep customers socially distanced. There’s no acrylic sheet to separate the worker from the customer at the counter and outdoor tables are farther apart than originally planned.
Grant Smillie, owner of S.O.L.
"When we first designed this it was about volume and trying to fit as many seats into the place. And then it goes to safety," Grant Smillie told FOX 11's Susan Hirasuna. "All these things that you never would have thought as part of your opening procedures."
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But changing up the coffee café to adhere to new safety guidelines was not the only reason for a delayed opening. The little café and coffee place was set to open a couple of weeks ago, but then the rioters came through, broke through the glass doors and windows, and stole some coffee equipment.
If you’re wondering about the name, Smillie used to be a DJ before he started opening restaurants. Perhaps you’ve been to his company’s other popular place, EP & LP. Strings of Life is a Derrick May song he used during his sets.
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He also likes the way the abbreviation S.O.L. evokes the LA weather. Of course, it also evokes something else. But he assured me, there’s plenty of luck for Strings of Life and, indeed, even on day one, there was a good and appreciative crowd of people happy for a new place to go for some Aussie inspired food and great coffee.
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