Eight weeks after Canberra's cafes, restaurants and bars were ordered to close to customers due to coronavirus measures, Mim Soboslay Moore was ready to welcome the public back inside.
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But despite easing restrictions that allowed just 10 people to sit down for a meal and coffee, the manager of The Front cafe in Lyneham said there was still a lot of nerves behind making the decision.
"It was pretty intense at first, and there was a lot of responsibility with the added pressure of making sure the cafe was safe for people," Ms Soboslay Moore said.
"[The return of customers] was pretty odd because they were so spaced out, and people were coming in and tentatively asking if they could sit down."
For venues used to having bustling crowds, the sight of having small numbers inside was an unusual one but as patron limits increased further to 100 customers per space on Friday, many hope it signalled a return to normal.
But for those who chose to open back to customers from the beginning, it wasn't all easy in getting back to open doors.
'It was awkward at first'
From May 16, restaurants in the ACT were allowed to have diners return, but limited to just 10 people, and while some elected to reopen their doors to diners, some chose to wait it out for limits to increase further, due to the situation not being economically viable.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison even called the venues that did reopen brave following the easing of restrictions.
While other cafes still stuck to takeaway until limits were increased, Ms Soboslay Moore said it was critical to reopen from the start date.
It was just weeks ago she had taken over as manager of the cafe. Now she was faced with the biggest challenge to face the sector in decades.
"It's not easy to create a rapport with people through just takeaway, and there was less of a connection with people," she said.
"It was an easy decision to make, because it was really important for morale and also to give back to customers."
Despite the few tables that were available to customers in those first few days, Ms Soboslay Moore said there were teething issues to adjusting to service in a COVID-19 world.
"It was awkward at first to be having to be aware of the time people spent in restaurants and people being told to not spend more than an hour at a time to eliminate the risk," she said.
"It was about being aware of how many people were in a small space and having high levels of congestion."
While smaller cafes were able to adjust to the limited number of customers more easily, for larger venues that could fit hundreds of people at a time, it was more of a shock.
Owner of Assembly bar in Braddon, Wes Heincke, said having a table of 10 in a cavernous space that could easily hold 500 or more was a bizarre sight.
"We went to a florist up the road and tried to break up the big space and fill the room up," he said.
"It's not like we were making any money when we reopened to customers, but we wanted to stay relevant, and people wanted to come back to the pub."
Even though the bar was limited to just 10 people, Mr Heincke said phones were ringing non-stop with people keen to return for a parmy and pint.
Table service was even introduced as a means to make the venue more COVID-safe, something the bar plans to continue to implement once restrictions are eased further.
"At first, some people were a bit scared to come back out after lockdown, but the ones who were eager to get back out were less paranoid," Mr Heincke said.
On the last day before lockdown measures were enacted on the restaurant sector, 65 diners had cancelled their reservations at Damian Brabender's Otis Dining Hall.
With the Kingston fine-dining restaurant choosing not to do takeaway service during the shutdown period, Mr Brabender said reopening to 10 customers was critical.
"We had planned the reopening for at least a month before, and we transformed the dining room to be one long table, with 1.5 metres between each chair," he said.
"We didn't want to be just limping back, we had planned a celebration and wanted to be better than ever."
Mr Brabender said the restaurant aimed to use the 10-person limit to their advantage, running chef's table events that were able to be booked online.
"Having just 10 people wasn't the ideal outcome, but it was still important that we maintain the connection, not just between the employer and employee but the general public and the restaurant.
'It was a big step'
It had taken two months for restaurants and cafes to be allowed just 10 people inside their doors. It took just another fortnight after that for that number to double to 20 customers from May 30.
There was also the added bonus of 20 people being allowed per area of a venue.
Those changes allowed Assembly to have as many as 95 people in the venue with temporary walls put up to separate the spaces and let more people in.
"The change in vibe was definitely immediate," Mr Heincke said.
"We had a bit of an issue at first with what the ruling meant and what separated the space, and we had the police and health department through a few times, and they were really helpful, saying what we could and couldn't do."
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While the step from zero to 10 customers had been a cautious one, the step to 20 was a lot more noticeable.
"It was a big step and now that the restrictions are easing, the previous weird vibe was starting to change," Mr Heincke said.
Mr Brabender said it wasn't just the number of diners that increased on May 30, it was the level of public confidence in getting back to the outside world again.
"Having 20 people made a huge difference. It was the next natural progression," he said.
From zero to 100
After restrictions were eased back cautiously, the changes that came in at midday on Friday were the biggest ones yet: allowing 100 people back into venues.
Despite the large increase, Ms Soboslay Moore said it wouldn't affect her Lyneham cafe too greatly, due to the one person per four square metre rule also being in effect.
"For us, it won't make any difference because of the small interior. We couldn't fit 100 people in anyway," she said.
"It does feel like it's getting back to normal now. The idea was to come back with a bang."
Damian Brabender said the changes meant 30 people would be allowed back in his Kingston restaurant, but the changes were more than just about dining numbers.
"With people going out to restaurants again, people were reverting back to the normal ways, while still being careful about things," he said.
Having large amounts of room to begin with, Assembly will be one of the many Canberra venues set to benefit the most from the increase to 100 people.
Mr Heincke said he was looking forward to having his Lonsdale Street bar back to patron levels not seen since March.
"It's time for us to get going as an industry and get around having customers back in," he said.