An X-ray showed Covid in both lungs and he was immediately admitted. “I was on a ward with other Covid-19 positive patients. I was on maximum oxygen — one step from a ventilator.”
His pregnant wife wasn’t allowed to go with him and he was left to fight the disease without the support of friends or family. “Being in hospital unable to see anyone was scary.”
Medical staff were amazing, he says, and not only at taking care of his health. “On Friday night, a Jewish doctor brought me a little pack so I could make kiddush with another Jewish patient in a nearby bed. There was grape juice, challah and a little cake. I managed to stand and lean on the bed to say the prayers.”
The illness hospitalised him for nearly a fortnight. He thinks that for him, the turning point was about halfway through his time there. “It could have gone either way at that point — my breathing was terrible. I was so out of it that I didn’t realise my wife had been to the hospital for a pregnancy scan. She is now six months pregnant with our first child and sent the scan to my ward.”
A nurse brought the image up to him as a surprise. “It brought a tear to my eye. I knew at that point I could have gone one way or the other but it made me even more determined to get out of there.”
Thankfully, his breathing improved, he moved from a full oxygen mask to nasal tubes and was finally able to speak again. “I’d been too breathless to talk.” He left hospital too weak to walk unaided and minus his sense of taste and smell, which fortunately, soon returned. A blessing for someone working in the food business.
“The community was an amazing support — I’m lucky I had my phone with me when I went in the ambulance. I wasn’t allowed to take anything else. I had so many messages of support from people and that really helped me.”
His experience made him hesitant about reopening his restaurant too soon. “I didn’t feel comfortable cooking for customers until we had all the right protections in place,” he explains.
It wasn’t until the second week of July — after he’d invested heavily in ensuring he was compliant with the regulations — that Teacher felt ready to open his doors again. “We brought in a commercial cleaning company to clean everything — chairs, tables, floors, walls etc — and then spray a special product over everything (a process called fogging) to disinfect and prevent Covid for 30 days. We also use that product weekly, and daily on the tables and chairs and between each sitting. After every table we spray, wash, wipe and start all over again.”
His staff wear gloves and visors; some also wear masks. They have all taken a special online training course which requires them to pass a test at the end. “We take customers’ temperatures as they arrive and take their names. We’re proud to have a business-safe Covid-19 certificate on our door.”
The number of customers he is able to seat has been reduced from 102 to 49, to ensure they are compliant with the 2m/1m+ rule.
“For the first couple of weeks we kept table numbers low, so we could make sure we were able to do it safely. We’re slowly building things back up. It can take longer to get food out though, as the chef has to change gloves and PPE when he moves sections.”
He has returned with new vigour — “ I’ve employed a new chef — Bedzina — who has cooked at several Michelin-starred restaurants, including Pétrus. He’s changing the menu daily, according to the best produce he can find.”
The One Ashbourne menu is also now available on Deliveroo and on Uber Eats and they also take direct orders from customers.
“We’ve invested in packaging that we seal at this end to keep it as hot as possible, and which can go into the customer’s oven if necessary when it arrives.”
Lockdown has been a stressful time for restaurateurs. “We lost thousands of pounds of stock that wasn’t saleable after we’d been closed for four months.”
Teacher is hopeful, though, that diners will come out to support him and his competitors — “Restaurants can’t run without customers, but we’re going to give it our all.”
He will be signing up for the Government’s August voucher scheme — “I’m hoping to bring out a menu that will help people use the vouchers and I’m also hoping it’s an incentive for people to get out.”
Despite all of this, his experience of the virus has taught him not to sweat the small stuff. “Losing all that stock was upsetting, but I am lucky to be around and have no lasting effects.”
Contact One Ashbourne on 0208 731 7575 or via Instagram @OneAshbourne
