Flora's Wine Bar Reopens In West Newton

NEWTON, MA — Back in February, before the pandemic was fully understood in Massachusetts, Flora's Wine Bar, complete with charcuterie and small plates, opened in the space that once was home to Coney Island Ice Cream cafe in West Newton.

But less than a month later, the fledgling business was forced to close temporarily along with hundreds of other businesses across Newton and beyond. Now, months later, the business opened again to customers on July 9.

"We are back from our hiatus and couldn't be happier to finally be serving again!" Flora's Wine Bar owners Andrew Li and Corey Fletcher said in an email to supporters.

It's some good news amid a time when closures are becoming familiar as businesses large and small struggle with either months of closure or severely diminished business amid the pandemic. While the state's moratorium on evictions has just been extended even as the state slowly reopens to allow outdoor dining and limited indoor dining, in many cases it hasn't seemed to be enough for many businesses to catch up.

Flora's owners set to work as soon as they closed their doors on March 15 to figure out ways to keep their story alive. They applied to the Small Business Administration for loans, sold gift cards, posted a crowdsourced fundraiser on GoFundMe to help support staff through the pandemic. They also used wholesale accounts to offer patrons groceries and special desert and fruit boxes alongside wine orders. It seems to have worked.

As with other restaurants and businesses reopening now that Massachusetts is in Phase 3, Flora's has opened with some changes. Owners have distanced tables so that guests have space to spread out, they've set up a patio on Washington Street and they've joined a number of restaurants putting their menu on a QR code, to help reduce touching surfaces.

"The biggest challenge has just been the uncertainty and inconsistency for our team, ownership included," Li said in an email to Patch. " There are no jobs in this industry and everyone is suffering so even with the phased reopenings it's impossible to know how things will play out."

Li said there are still many unknowns, but one thing that has felt right is putting the safety of guests and staff first.

"So as long as we stick to that then all we can do is hope for the best," he said.

Read more about the story behind Flora's: Wine Bar To Open In West Newton

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