At Bar Rochford, Nick Smith has been delivering takeaway wine and cocktails - and drove as far as Yass to deliver six bottles of wine and a four-pack of cocktails for one order.

"It's just about surviving at the moment so selling on-hand stock is viable and it's going to be what gets us through," he said.

The takeaway business kept staff connected and helped him pay bills owed when the lockdown hit.

Once his wine ran out, he was looking at offering takeaway food, but would not open for just 10 people.

"Being a space for around 80 people, you need at least 20 or 30 people in there. It would be slightly depressing just for 10 people," he said.

Mr Smith said he lost half his staff because they were not eligible for JobKeeper, but has kept six staff through the wage subsidy.

At Italian and Sons and Mezzalira, Pasquale Trimboli has been doing a healthy takeaway trade, but says he won't open to sit-down diners at 10 people - or even when it moves to 20.

"I don't know any restaurant in this country that can operate on 10 people. Ben Shewry has to jump on a bike and deliver takeaway," he said, referring to one of Australia's and the world's top restaurateurs, who has posted pictures of himself doing deliveries in Melbourne.

"Unless the chef's taking the orders and cooking the food and washing the dishes and clearing the table he or she can't survive on those numbers. You can't do it."

Mr Trimboli said the government was playing with people's lives by encouraging them to open at an unviable number.

"Serious restaurants can't survive on 20 people. We need to see numbers of 50 per cent plus capacity - and even then it's a stretch. Or a vaccine. It's just getting out of hand, the government isn't really respecting the industry."

Mr Trimboli has transformed his business into takeaway, including wine, and sells pasta, desserts and sauces through the Ainslie supermarket. He said while turnover is down 60 per cent, he has kept all his staff and is making it work. Now, rather than trying to change his business again to accommodate table service for groups of 10, restaurants should be given some certainty, he says.

"There's no point dangling the carrot and giving us nothing to work with," he said. "Let's all just say you're going to have to suffer for three months but in three months if the numbers are good we'll open you up to 50 per cent capacity and give us a real chance to become how we were before the pandemic."

READ MORE:

At Molto on the Kingston Foreshore, Carlo Tosolini said he would wait for the detail before deciding whether to add a couple of tables for sit-down meals. He has given the restaurant over to takeaway, wine and grocery sales, and said the logistics of 10 diners would depend on how many people could be inside under the rule of one person for every four square metres.

Mr Tosolini said he lost 12 staff who were not eligible for JobKeeper, but was able to keep eight under the scheme. He is open all day for takeaway and trade has been good, but business remains tough.

"We're lucky, the JobKeeper scheme works well for us, and we've been able to change and adapt to the conditions," he said.

"How long mentally I can survive I don't know, that's another thing. Like everyone, we're a little bit over it. The short of it is, we're looking forward to spring."

Our COVID-19 news articles relating to public health and safety are free for anyone to access. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support. If you're looking to stay up to date on COVID-19, you can also sign up for our twice-daily digest here.