OpenTable | Restaurants on the rebound — Aly Lund

As restaurants recovered from the pandemic, OpenTable went into the field to retrieve four diverse and extraordinary restaurants stories of recovery from across America. From overcoming incarceration to battling stigma surrounding xenophobia we captured these unique stories to shed a light on the challenges the restaurant industry was facing on top of the struggles of the pandemic.

My Role: Lead Creative Producer

Credits: Blink Media, Elizabeth Freeman (OpenTable Lead Designer), Francesca Burke (OpenTable Director of Content), Trevor Leaderbrand (OpenTable Motion Designer), Stef Tuder (OpenTable Marketing Content Manager)

Restaurants on the Rebound

OpenTable’s 2021 restaurant recovery campaign

China Live

San Francisco’s China Live, suffered extraordinary challenges when the pandemic hit. Xenophobia, prejudice toward its restaurants cuisine, labor shortages, extremely high rents, and the battle around local pandemic restrictions made it next to impossible to keep the business

Pink Dinghy

Virginia Beach’s hottest new was restaurant had to overcome more challenges than most new restaurants. From a car crashing into their restaurant, to the sudden passing of their co-owner, all while fighting the closures and restrictions the pandemic brought with it.

L’Oca d’Oro

Austins’ L’Oca d’Oro decided when life gives you lemon, make lemonade. Instead of closing it kitchen doors when the pandemic hit, it turn to aiding and feeding its community in its time of tremendous need.

50 Kitchen

Against all the odds, formally incarcerated Anthony Caldwell of Dorchester Massachusetts opened the doors to his first restaurant, 50 Kitchen, just one week before the pandemic hit. It’s been an uphill battle since.