Grape Vine Cafe’s Linda Kutcher remains resilient as COVID restrictions pummel business | Eater Vegas

"On the edge of Summerlin I watched a neighborhood restaurant on Lake Mead Boulevard fight to stay afloat under state COVID-19 rules limiting restaurants to 25 percent capacity with mandatory reservations and a four-person table maximum. Co-owner Linda Kutcher says the restrictions have killed lunch business, canceled the monthly wine dinners that used to drive bottle sales, and made it impossible to cover monthly bills and payroll because lunches don’t generate reservations and staffing minimums remain. I see a small, dog-friendly covered patio lined with plants that still serves chicken marsala, pan-seared Chilean seabass, and linguine and clams for weekday lunches and dinners every day but Sunday, and a rustic wine bar lit by candlelight at night that gives the space a distinctly Napa Valley feel. The restaurant, originally opened in 1997 and bought by Kutcher in 2015 after years as a regular customer, carried one of three local licenses to sell wine and beer for retail and stocks about 40 wines by the glass — sales that were crushed when the city extended takeout wine rights to all restaurants; Kutcher lowered wine prices and began offering wines to go through online ordering to try to recoup losses. To make up revenue she added online ordering and family-meal packages (which helped early on but have tapered off), and restarted using UberEats and Postmates after a county cap on third-party fees; she also negotiated rent relief with her landlord when capacity was 50 percent, but says 25 percent capacity has put her back “in the same boat.” Bracing for a post-holiday case spike, she stresses her commitment to safety — even saying she would close to save a life — and remains resilient: “I’m a fighter and I will not give up,” though she says she needs a chance to operate above 25 percent occupancy to bring revenues back." - Susan Stapleton