Captain Curbside, Immortalized March 14, 2021 8:37 PM Subscribe
I need to give my man a shout-out cuz he won't do it himself...
My very own heart, Chris Petro, a.k.a. Vrakatar, a.a.k.a. Captain Curbside, gave some thoughtful history and observation of the pandemic from his perspective to our local newspaper as part of their one-year anniversary special section, "Voices of the Pandemic."
The whole thing is worth a read, but his piece in particular speaks to small businesses and their role in the community and is really super great.
Not that I'm, like, biased or anything...
My very own heart, Chris Petro, a.k.a. Vrakatar, a.a.k.a. Captain Curbside, gave some thoughtful history and observation of the pandemic from his perspective to our local newspaper as part of their one-year anniversary special section, "Voices of the Pandemic."
The whole thing is worth a read, but his piece in particular speaks to small businesses and their role in the community and is really super great.
Not that I'm, like, biased or anything...
A nice, positive read. Thanks for posting it. There are a lot of positive things coming out of this year that we miss if someone doesn't take us buy the hand and say 'Yeah, but look at this'.
posted by BoscosMom at 9:01 PM on March 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by BoscosMom at 9:01 PM on March 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
Cheers! I appreciated vrakatar’s insights and perspective early on when the restaurant was working to pin down a plan. So glad to see that one year later it’s been a continued great thing for the community.
posted by mochapickle at 9:48 PM on March 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mochapickle at 9:48 PM on March 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I’ve seen vraktar’s comments here all pandemic long. Great stuff!
posted by Going To Maine at 9:54 PM on March 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Going To Maine at 9:54 PM on March 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
vrakatar pronounced va-rack-tar.
Totally get gelled the rearranging things, staff stuff and the take out culture. between door dash, grubhub, phone in, walk-in and limited dine-in, hectic upon streamlined hectic nature of food, yeah. nice story.
posted by clavdivs at 12:14 AM on March 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
Totally get gelled the rearranging things, staff stuff and the take out culture. between door dash, grubhub, phone in, walk-in and limited dine-in, hectic upon streamlined hectic nature of food, yeah. nice story.
posted by clavdivs at 12:14 AM on March 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
Lovely interview!
posted by ellieBOA at 3:59 AM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by ellieBOA at 3:59 AM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
What[ever] clavdivs said.
posted by y2karl at 4:27 AM on March 15, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by y2karl at 4:27 AM on March 15, 2021 [10 favorites]
This made me smile big. The eirias household has been doing Friday night curbside/delivery all pandemic long, and it was nice to read about what this has meant to someone on the other side, the challenges, the joys, the new perspective. Thanks for posting.
posted by eirias at 6:10 AM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by eirias at 6:10 AM on March 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
Got a little worried when I started reading this post and was relieved to find out it was good news!
Vrakatar is good people and an excellent bartender to boot! Glad to know things are doing ok on the island.
I am fascinated by all the ways businesses and people have adapted to their situation over the last year and I look forward to one day reading a book containing all these stories.
posted by bondcliff at 10:37 AM on March 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
Vrakatar is good people and an excellent bartender to boot! Glad to know things are doing ok on the island.
I am fascinated by all the ways businesses and people have adapted to their situation over the last year and I look forward to one day reading a book containing all these stories.
posted by bondcliff at 10:37 AM on March 15, 2021 [5 favorites]
Thank you for sharing this. I've so enjoyed vrakatar's posts!
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 10:57 AM on March 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
The little New England pizza place where my sons work has gone on an amazing journey this year. It changed hands just as 2021 started, and the owner have, frankly, stumbled. It sounds like it sucks now. And they only ever did pick-up & delivery, so it's not like their model had to change!
One of the boys just had a shift at the better pizza place in town. They closed down their bar and their seating area, and stacked the tables. They never did delivery in the past, but contracting from table service & booze to just carry-out could have been brutal -- but my son said that business is crazy good there, multiples busier than the old place. They keep chugging along the past year, and are doing fine.
Good restaurant people are like tap dancers, and will just spin on their toes for a minute and then take off again in a new direction. Sounds like Vrakatar is one of those, and I would have loved to work with him in my take-out days. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:50 PM on March 15, 2021 [7 favorites]
One of the boys just had a shift at the better pizza place in town. They closed down their bar and their seating area, and stacked the tables. They never did delivery in the past, but contracting from table service & booze to just carry-out could have been brutal -- but my son said that business is crazy good there, multiples busier than the old place. They keep chugging along the past year, and are doing fine.
Good restaurant people are like tap dancers, and will just spin on their toes for a minute and then take off again in a new direction. Sounds like Vrakatar is one of those, and I would have loved to work with him in my take-out days. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:50 PM on March 15, 2021 [7 favorites]
Aww so sweet, that was a lovely piece and didn't even mention the "making the dinners for the shelter" story which was an all time fave. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. And thanks vrakatar!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:40 PM on March 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:40 PM on March 16, 2021 [2 favorites]
i'm so late to the thread but this is awesome! yay Cap'n!
posted by lazaruslong at 8:44 AM on March 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by lazaruslong at 8:44 AM on March 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
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Thanks for posting. Well earned shout-out Chris.
posted by AugustWest at 8:57 PM on March 14, 2021 [3 favorites]