Digital pivoting has emerged as one of the new buzzphrases during the pandemic – and especially so in hospitality. Being forced by lockdown to find new ways to survive now and into the future means restaurateurs are entering new territory: The Takeaway.

Offering meals to collect from the restaurant or have delivered to homes not only means re-thinking the creative working week in the kitchen: it also require expertise in user-friendly, efficient and effective online management. Since this is a relatively novel skill that many chefs aren’t traditionally trained in, or have had the time to learn, how do they make this vital transition?

To get an insight I spoke with Andrew Moss, above, chef-patron of The North Port family-run restaurant in Perth, who launched an At Home menu earlier this month with the help of his friend and former colleague, the Glasgow-based marketing and events professional Rachel Edwards (below).

The restaurant offers click-and-collect or home delivery menu of hot dishes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - a seismic shift from running the restaurant five days from Tuesday through Saturday. It has sold out since the June 5 launch.

“We’d never done much social media before lockdown because we didn’t really have to,” says chef Moss, who runs North Port with his wife Karen. “Doing takeaway for the first time since we opened eight years ago means we’ve had to have a total re-think and be super-organised, and it would not have been as successful as it has been so far without Rachel’s expertise.

“Setting up a workable online booking system with pre-payment was absolutely vital, not only because handling cash is not viable at the moment, but also because people want to come and pick up and leave quickly so the food stays as hot as possible.”

The first task for Rachel - who has 17 years’ experience in the Scottish hospitality and events industry, co-founded Galvanize Events and whose most recent projects include the Clydebuilt Festival in partnership with the Clyde Maritime Trust; The Tall Ship at Riverside Museum, Glasgow; the 2014 Commonwealth Games; and Cameron House Hotel Loch Lomond - was to set up the social media strategy to promote the new North Port At Home takeaway menu.

Andrew offers an a la carte choice of four starters, four mains and four desserts plus two side options of home-baked bread and cultured butter, plus a wide range of matched wines - not as straightforward for him as doing a set menu might be.

The next stage was equally important.

“Updating the restaurant website and making the At Home menu more visible on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram was paramount,” she explains. The first FB post announcing the launch of the At Home menu had an organic reach of over 18,000 people within hours.

Writing regular website content, thanking everybody for their orders, sharing customer photographs and replying to comments personally is also part of Rachel’s job.

Online presence has its advantages for the kitchen, too: social media updates trigger immediate booking responses.

“Being able to use my phone to click into the ResDiary bookings as the week progresses has been really handy,” says Andrew. “I can see if I need to get 10 beef and five crab ready, for example, so it allows me to source and prepare throughout the week.”

How is doing takeaway different from running the restaurant? “Our working days have shifted from Tuesday through Saturday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday and it’s more intense on those days,” he says. “People are working from home and cooking meals all week, so they see the weekend as time for a break and a treat, and we’re happy to accommodate that shift for them.”

Although they are cooking fewer meals than before – around half the number they would do over five days – the work is more concentrated over their three operational days compared to the previous five, and with a much smaller team.

Will he keep the takeaway offer once restaurants are allowed to re-open? “We’d rather do this than not do it,” he says. “Looking towards when we are allowed to re-open we’ll continue to offer takeaway for a wee while in addition to the restaurant. If the two-metre distancing rule is retained, we will not re-open. But if it’s reduced to one metre, we’ll be just about ok, so we’ll continue to do both.

“The takeaway menu is simplified so it travels well for delivery. But we’re already seeing people booking every weekend, so we enjoy a lot of repeat business from loyal customers, which we’re extremely grateful for.”

He adds that while many restaurants in Glasgow and Edinburgh are doing ‘finish at home’ takeaway menus with lots of boxes and tubs and cooking instructions, that wouldn’t work in Perth, which is a much smaller city.

“We want to offer our customers an easier more convenient option, which is hot restaurant quality food, ready to eat at home,” says Andrew.

I wonder if awareness of the restaurant is growing via social media. “Another positive of this new way of working online is that we may make restaurant quality food more accessible to people who might not normally visit The North Port.

“I hope that through this digital pivoting experience with the addition of word-of-mouth we’ll get a wider reach when the restaurant does re-open.

“It would not have been possible to even contemplate that without Rachel.”

For her part, Rachel - who has just joined Glasgow Community Food Network as logistics co-ordinator - says believing in the product was a huge motivator for her. “Mutual trust is vital in a venture like this.

“It’s so easy to work with a restaurant that is already successful and I’m happy to have had the opportunity to work with Andrew and Karen during this difficult time. Running a restaurant and producing amazing food is not the same as organising its social media. Andrew is the one with the vision,” she says.

“It’s also very encouraging to see customers being so loyal and enthusiastic during this trying time for restaurants. North Port’s success is not down to me. I’m just a link in the chain.”

Andrew adds: “Doing At Home takeaway is about keeping our name out there, raising awareness, highlighting your profile and keeping your and your staff’s skills up while lockdown continues. It would be too easy to just disappear.”

Photo credits: Fraser Band Photography/Jemma Wood.