’’We relied on spring, on season, but this global pandemic made things really difficult for us’’ – interview with the owner of Csíra restaurant, Csikós Hunor

’’We relied on spring, on season, but this global pandemic made things really difficult for us’’ – interview with the owner of Csíra restaurant, Csikós Hunor


The coronavirus global pandemic highly influences the lives of Covasna County as well. Temporarily people`s favourite places are closed, practically they are closed in their homes. At the same time, the world of entrepreneurs and those who work in tourism are significantly affected by this situation. We were curious about the way hospitality resorts survive this situation, the way they make the best they can. We asked the owner of Csíra, Csikós Hunor.

How has the coronavirus pandemic affected you?

We were very surprised. We actually never thought that such thing can happen to us. Since we only started our activity on the lunch section in winter, in the beginning of December, we were really relying on the spring season, to accelerate things a bit. However, this global pandemic made things a bit difficult for us, but we don’t have a choice, we must adapt to the new situation.

We have this situation; how did you manage to face it?

First, we had a rest, because in the last months we didn’t really have free days, we worked a lot. We had a lot to do, its big what we started. So, our first reaction was – how good it is, that we can rest a bit. After we recharged our batteries, we planed the delivery part, because we had to do something. So, we adapted to the situation and started to work on delivery and we succeeded to start it.

Have you thought before about delivery, or it was just the pandemic that forced you to start it?

We have already planned to deliver, but I don’t think we would have managed to resolve so quickly in a normal situation, because we already had a lot to do, so we didn’t want to force it more, but because of the pandemic we managed to start the delivery sooner than we expected.

What reorganization did this entail?

Our situation is pretty unique, because we don’t have waitress staff, we only have kitchen staff. The main change was, that we have a little more time to prepare the food, our cooking and serving standards are 15 minutes for indoor consumption, but now we have about a half an hour for it, due to the logistics, that we actually learn now. It is interesting for us, because it is a new thing.

Was it difficult to adapt, to respect the rules in order to continue your work?

We always took hygiene very seriously, but now even more. It is more difficult to work in mask and in gloves. Strange measures had to be taken, for example, before we enter the kitchen we go through a disinfection tray. It was hard to get used to step into it and disinfect ourselves and also the packaging of the imported food into the kitchen must also be thoroughly disinfected.But we also had to introduce other rules as well.

What do you think about the future? How long can you do this?

Since this is a very new thing, we don’t know how long we can do this and how much clients will like it, but we will do everything we can to keep it alive. We think it is a huge opportunity to offer foods that are immune-boosting and vitamin-rich, especially in spring time and especially during pandemic. With this, we can also draw attention to the importance of a varied and complete diet.

Can you please talk about the kitchen? What kind of food do you have?

Three things I would highlight about our kitchen, that we don’t use frozen products, microwave, and we don’t fry in oil. We prefer to make healthier foods as much as possible. In the menu, we selected the characteristics of different cuisines from different parts of the world, we put a bit from the Mexican cuisine, a bit from the Italian, which people know, but we also made Thai or Indian flavoured dishes. We always try to expand these and try to put dishes on the menu that aren’t listed elsewhere.

Csíra kitchen is open on weekdays from 12 pm to 8 pm, and you can order by phone 0751833509 or on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/csirakitchen/.

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