The NSW snap lockdown announced on Saturday at 2.30pm and beginning just two and a half hours later has sent many hospitality businesses scrambling to ensure their weekend food stocks don't go completely to waste.
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Level One Winery had just opened their new wine cellar on Friday and the timing was fortunate because they needed the fridge space.
"We were booked out Saturday and had a Cofield Winery degustation lunch booked yesterday, so obviously we had all the food ordered," owner Debbie Davis said.
"If we hadn't opened the cellar we probably would have had to waste it all."
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Thanks to the quick thinking and actions of the kitchen staff, Level One was able to make use of the excess food.
But what they made selling takeaway meals barely compares to the profits they would have made from their fully booked weekend.
"To give everyone two hours' notice on the weekend would have crushed all the hospitality businesses," Mrs Davis said.
"You buy so much food for the weekends because that's when you make the most money and to be given two hours' notice, what do you do?
"There'd be a lot of wasted food.
"They would have known earlier that they were going to lock us down, why didn't they do it earlier or on Thursday?"
Level One Wine Bar will be selling takeaway meals from its new wine cellar location from 5pm Sunday in order to navigate this newest lockdown.
