It’s not just local Chinese restaurants that are feeling the chill of coronavirus fears. With the whole of Italy placed under quarantine earlier this week, Italian restaurants in the GTA are also bracing for a downturn in business.

“Business has definitely dropped 30 to 40 per cent in the last two weeks,” says Giancarlo Colombaro, co-owner of Italian restaurant Gamberoni in the Yonge and Lawrence neighbourhood. “We’ve lost reservations and there are fewer walk-ins, which is tough because we’re a neighbourhood restaurant.

“The main conversation at every table is the coronavirus or how people are doing in Italy, and people get nervous when someone coughs,” he says, adding he’s also seen fewer visitors from other countries coming in for a meal.

Several Italian restaurants and food shops the Star reached out to declined to say whether their businesses have been impacted in recent weeks, worried that having their company associated with the coronavirus in any capacity would drive customers away.

At Eataly, the giant Italian food emporium at Bay and Bloor, diners still filled the tables at its upper floor restaurants during lunch earlier this week and customers were perusing the shelves, buying fresh pasta, produce and cheese. A spokesperson for Eataly did not respond to queries from the Star about whether business had been impacted.

“It’s important to talk about this,” Colombaro says, adding that worries over the virus could hurt the restaurant industry as a whole in the coming weeks. “I honestly don’t know how they’re doing it. If you get one bad month, you close the doors.”

Italy has been hard-hit by the virus, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the World Health Organization. China, where the virus first emerged in December, has had over 80,000 cases of the respiratory illness. Canada, meanwhile, has reported roughly 100 cases.

As to whether Italy’s countrywide shutdown will affect the import of Italian foods such as cheese and cured meats, Corrado Paina, executive director of the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario, said in an emailed statement it’s too early to say whether or not supply chains will be impacted.

“Italy’s decision to expand its quarantine nationwide is ultimately a proactive decision that will be better for people and business in the long run ... The Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario is working with its partners here in Toronto and Milan to ensure communication and trade channels are connected between our markets during this time to best meet Canada’s high demand of imports such as wine, cheese and meats.”

While the restaurant industry as a whole is expecting a drop in sales, University of Toronto visiting professor Paolo Granata, from the Faculty of Information at the McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology, says Chinese restaurants will still be hit the hardest.

He says for many in the city, Chinese food is considered a cheap and cheerful meal and there is a lack of knowledge among diners about the ingredients and cooking methods.

“This explains the unjustified distrust of Chinese restaurants in the past weeks,” he says. “On the other hand, an Italian restaurant is usually perceived as a delightful but pretty expensive food experience.” The overall perception that Italian food is of high quality makes consumers trust that it’s safe to eat.

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Granata adds that social media and news outlets play a large role in shaping attitudes toward cuisines and that it’s important for people to reflect on their own biases and prejudices towards different cultures and foods.

Chinese restaurants in the GTA (and even in other cities) have reported lagging sales in recent weeks with some restaurants facing racist sentiment and Mayor John Tory having to address the discrimination Chinese-Canadians have experienced during the coronavirus outbreak. Last month, a two-week dining event called Asialicious was held to encourage diners to visit more Chinese restaurants across the GTA.

Chinatown historian Arlene Chan writes in an email that among the reasons Chinese restaurants have faced a more drastic drop in business is that the coronavirus outbreak started in China. Italian restaurants haven’t been subjected to the same kinds of rumours and misinformation that have circulated around Chinese food so far, she says. The Lunar New Year also took place during this period, resulting in Chinese restaurants losing money due to the cancellation of large gatherings.

Colombaro is not sure how diners will behave as more news comes out about the pandemic. The only thing he knows is that the price of rent, ingredients and labour will continue to be the same as profits decrease.

“I remember when SARS came down, you just had to wing it out, it’s out of my control,” he says. “We keep the restaurant clean, give customers the full experience when they come in, and try to hold it out.”