A couple of days ago, I got to do something I have not done before.

I went to a restaurant.

I went inside a restaurant.

I got our bar here, you know, complete with all the lovely plexiglass barriers that we're required to have because of COVID.

It was the Mount Aerie Tap Room in northwest Philly, but to be completely transparent here, I didn't actually go there to explain producer and South Philadelphia resident Miles Bryan sort of brought me there via the miracle of smart food.

I got some like ground furniture and some green walls.

It's not an Irish bar.

We were actually going just going for a nice earthy kind of feel to the place.

That's Rob Pelzinski, the owner.

We call him restaurant Rob.

It was so busy the night we spoke that there was only one place we could post up to chat.

The creepy stairwell to the basement.

Pretty much every other small business owner, Rob was hit hard by the pandemic.

But now, business is good again.

Really good.

That's created a whole new problem.

Restaurant Rob can't find enough workers.

It took me three months of running ads just to get some interviews for a new chef.

My chef, who I went into the pandemic with, decided he didn't really want to do it anymore.

I knew eventually we'd get to play real restaurant again.

Eventually, I was going to need more staff in my kitchen.

I finally got a new chef hired about two weeks ago.

...