Take it Out

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: 2020/05 - May

I’ve been writing restaurant reviews for Laurel for six years. 

That’s given me and Tricia and a select group of friends entree into an astonishing collection of restaurants, ranging from little Mom and Pop places where you know your server and the people in the kitchen and it’s like being welcomed into a friend’s home, to lavish dining rooms that have literally earned an international reputation. 

And it’s a necessity of the assignments that we order as much as we can – appetizers, soup, salad, main courses, desserts, wine, mixed drinks, and anything else that may pop up on the menu that we can safely jam into our satiated stomachs. 

This is a job that I cherish, and I’ve pledged to do whatever Janet and Marjorie wish of me to keep it going. 

Yet here’s the sad truth facing me and you, if you enjoy the marvelously indulgent experience of dining out. 

The Highlands-Cashiers Plateau’s extraordinary collection of restaurants – from the places serving the essence of comfort food to the elevated establishments dedicated to delivering an experience that’ll be recalled with fondness and longing far into the future – this entire ecosystem, is in danger of going extinct. 

The coronavirus and the resulting public health orders have put all of them on life support. 

Restaurants on the Plateau have always faced a precarious existence. The cost of property or rent, coupled with a busy season of only seven or eight months (in a good year) plays hob with bottom lines, and trying to wring a profit out of a local restaurant requires a terrier’s courage and clever tenacity. 

That dog-like determination has led these restaurants to consider one of two options: To just close down until that time when the thought of enjoying a meal with a room full of strangers doesn’t fill us with an existential dread; or to offer take-out to loyal diners who have come to depend on their menus. 

I’m asking that everyone reading this article to resolve to eat as many takeout meals as possible from these restaurants. 

It’ll help these places keep their kitchen open and their staffs bringing in a bit of income. These people are your neighbors and they’ve treated you like friends when you’ve dined with them. 

And, as I’ve already mentioned, it’ll give you a chance to enjoy superb food. 

(As I’m writing this, I’m taking a break to enjoy barbecue from Highlands Smokehouse and watching The Office on Netflix with Tricia. Comfort dining of the highest order.)

Do this, and I promise you’ll be keeping alive a cherished part of life on the Plateau. I can’t even contemplate life here without these places. And I’m guessing you’re the same way.

We’re maintaining a complete listing of restaurants that’re offering take-out, complete with contact information, at highlands-cashiers.info/covidassist.