It was like any other day, the management team gathered at Tanzenwald for our traditional Monday afternoon meeting, except on this specific day, we gathered around the TV to find out that the following day, we were to shut our doors to the public at 5 pm. That day was March 16th, over two whole months ago, isn’t that wild? Instead of shutting down, we worked long hours revising a plan to transition the Tanzenwald we’ve grown to love the last three years, into a strictly to-go operation over the phone, and affectionately named our new HQ ‘The Tanzenwald Crisis Management Center.’

On Tuesday, March 17th we closed our doors at 5 pm and started doing delivery of our yearly Saint Patrick’s Day corned beef feast, with one of our employees graciously suiting up in a new leprechaun outfit whilst they delivered food because we all deserve a little giggle and during these times. We’d like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who showed up prior to 5 o’clock to say hi, and sadly, goodbye. Little did we know it would be the last time seeing some of your smiling faces for  months. We miss the buzz that a room filled with people makes, the laughs, and especially the snarky back-and-forth we partook in with y’all. We see many of you like family, you’re a part of our lives. We would see each other on a weekly basis, and we know your life stories, we’ve truly missed our pals.

We went full force, guns-a-blazin’ (pun intended) into our newfangled set-up, and the transition was surprisingly smooth. First, we called every one of our employees, asking if they were comfortable enough to work under our new guidelines, and then went from there, setting up a schedule that would fit for everyone. Unsure of the volume of orders we’d receive, we stocked up on to-go containers, and slightly decreased our food inventory. We were pleasantly surprised by your outpouring support. We adjusted on the fly as needed, and we thank you for your patience as we figured out the logistics of our new, hopefully temporary, normal. We’ve also taken this time to apply to the city for a variance to temporarily extend our patio slightly into the parking lot so we can have more people to enjoy their time here when the time comes. We’ll also be temporarily switching to using compostable plates, flatware, and cups to minimize contact.

Because we’re all just human, in order to keep sane, we had to keep ourselves entertained, and booooy did we ever. From cleaning every chair and putting new pads on them, scrubbing every nook and cranny, to building our very own (not so) state of the art growler-box castle/fort/dungeon, and got our extremely talented co-workers to live stream a performance every Sunday at 4:20. Speaking of 4/20, our third year anniversary was celebrated quarantine style, via online streaming. We had an online performance by our good ol’ buddy Gregg “Cheech” Hall, and gave away “door” prizes to the people who “attended”.

Jenaveve always told us that the biggest milestones in owning a restaurant is the number 3. Three days, three weeks, three months, and three years. Our 3rd anniversary wasn’t what we expected at all, but nonetheless, we celebrated it with the community! Luckily shortly after we were put on shelter-in-place, Jenaveve applied for the Payroll Protection Program loan, which we are currently using to keep our staff on and paid. Steve has been able to train a new assistant brewer, and get little things around the brewery cleaned, repaired, and organized.  As we look forward to the days ahead up until June 1st we hope to put together a set-up that’s safe, welcoming, and enjoyable for both YOU, the customer, and us. We’re all in this together, and we’re literally counting the days until we get to see you again. So we raise a glass to you, Northfield, for staying safe and resilient.