The Tadich Grill, the oldest restaurant in California, has stared down a crisis or two: earthquakes; several recessions; Covid-19. Founded in 1849, its current home on California Street puts it in the heart of the city’s downtown Financial District, known as “FiDi”. And it is ground zero in the city’s struggle to get people back to work.

Jure Bracanovi?, one of the white-coated waiters, says the restaurant, like others nearby, has suffered as the lunch and dinner crowd switched to working from home, and convention business collapsed. The stream of delegates at tech events has almost entirely evaporated, in part due to the perception the city’s streets are “dangerous”, he says.

On its busiest days, arriving for lunch at the Tadich Grill could feel like muscling your way across the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. On this Monday, however, four patrons sit on stools at the wooden bar running from the front door to the kitchen. “Lots of offices are still closed,” Bracanovi? notes.