A Rocklin restaurant owner followed COVID guidelines. She was called a traitor

Kathrin Grosse has been called a traitor by some residents of Placer County. Her crime: As the owner of Kathrin’s Biergarten, a German restaurant and brewery in Rocklin, she has faithfully followed the state’s COVID-19 guidelines.

Doing the right thing on COVID-19 rules has come with a steep price for the German-born small business owner whose primary income is tied up in her pub. It has put her on the wrong side of Placer County’s conservative politics. It has sometimes put her at a competitive disadvantage. Oh, and can we talk about the practical challenges of following the rules?

When California limited operations to take-out only, Grosse adjusted her business to do takeout only. When the state allowed for outdoor dining, Grosse invested in tents and heaters so her customers could drink and eat in the biergarten. And when Placer County moved to the red tier, which allows indoor dining at 25% capacity, Grosse brought a few tables and chairs back to her dining room.

Grosse was rewarded for doing the right thing by being pressured to defy COVID guidelines. Comments on her business’ Facebook page confirm this: “Just open up already”; “Let adults make adult decisions whether they want to be masked or not”; “You should open anyways. Many businesses in placer county (sic) have defied regardless of the threats they get.”

Grosse said even a local law enforcement official told her “off the record” that her business could defy the guidelines without consequences.

“And I said, ‘You don’t have to say this off the record because … everybody knows that,’” she said. “I’m doing this because I believe in the health department and I don’t understand why I’m a bad person to follow state health regulations.”

When I spoke with Grosse, we sat in the outdoor patio, a spacious but artfully designed area that gives the biergarten shade and privacy.

Grosse, a German immigrant, is not the kind of bleeding heart liberal some conservatives in the area might make her out to be. While Grosse herself is now fully vaccinated against COVID, she is not requiring that her staff be vaccinated — though the majority are. She also said she would never monitor customers’ vaccination statuses — “that should be a personal choice.”

So why has Grosse received so much flak for her decision to follow public health guidelines?

“They think I’m not supporting the country,” she said.

The same people who complain that COVID restrictions violate their rights are telling her how to run her business.

“You talk about freedom — (this is) my freedom to decide what’s best,” she said.

Elsewhere in Placer County, eight restaurants — including Roseville’s House of Oliver, Rocklin’s The Brass Tap and Lincoln’s Infusion Taproom — have banded together to sue Gov. Gavin Newsom over COVID restrictions. The lawsuit is a misguided example of Placer County’s don’t-tread-on-me conservative presence.

Grosse was invited to join the lawsuit as well, but she chose not to.

“I don’t like Newsom and I don’t support him, but I’m not suing my governor,” Grosse said. “What kind of example are we setting to our kiddos and our employees if we just follow the rules we like?”

Though she is not a fan, Grosse said she sympathizes with Newsom, saying that if she has felt the “division and difficulty of making a decisions” as a small business owner, she can only imagine the immense amount of pressure Newsom is under to take care of an entire state.

In truth, Grosse is not an ideologue in conversation or in her business practices. As red as Placer County is, Grosse has been baffled by the conservative conventional wisdom of defying health orders meant to protect people.

Following the guidelines has reaped a few benefits for Grosse — none of her employees contracted COVID (one employee who did contract COVID on vacation did not return to work at any point while sick). The biergarten was also placed on a few Facebook lists of restaurants in the Rocklin/Roseville area following guidelines and, as a result, earned a lot of supportive new customers.

Overall, choosing to be safe and follow the rules has created far more headaches than benefits for Grosse. It has also put her business at a competitive disadvantage compared to businesses that have defied state guidance. Some local businesses that have chosen to remain open in defiance of state guidelines have made more money as a result, Grosse said.

Currently, Kathrin’s Biergarten is the sole source of income supporting Grosse, her husband and their four children. The financial strain may cause her to make a Sophie’s Choice: “Soon I’ll have to pick my favorite and only that one will get to go to college,” she joked. “We are using a lot of our savings.”

Businesses that have chosen to remain open throughout the pandemic might also have had the ability to retain a steady staff. Meanwhile, Grosse said she was constantly having to adjust her staff when the state tightened and loosened restrictions — “firing, hiring, training again … and it cost me a lot of money to train,” she said. New staff members also make mistakes, and cranky customers have not always been understanding.

On top of staffing stressors, financial challenges and community critique, the Biergarten has also been impacted by Germany’s strict COVID restrictions which have delayed or otherwise affected exports. The restaurant imports many of their supplies, including their beer, straight from Germany.

After sitting with Grosse and hearing her story, it was not hard to feel for her. She is the classic example of an immigrant coming to America and making a contribution. She’s trying to be a good American by following the rules and is paying a price for it because of locals who only want to follow the rules that match their politics.

I empathize with Grosse and other small business owners. I do not envy having to choose between opening in full, defying guidelines and potentially making more money or restricting operations and losing money. However, because it offers quality food and service and because its owner is trying to do what’s best for her staff and her customers, the biergarten deserves support.

With a statewide reopening planned for June 15, some challenges, like capacity limitations, will be lifted for California restaurants. Other challenges, like staffing shortages, will continue to be an issue. So in addition to patronizing responsible local businesses, be a good customer by tipping generously if you can, being patient with staff and continuing to order takeout when possible.

For Kathrin’s Biergarten, come June 15, Grosse says if the state no longer requires masks, her business will follow suit — even though she thinks the reopening is premature.

“I’m concerned — I would rather wait a little bit,” she said. “I don’t want to have a packed indoors right now because the last thing I want to do is fall back.”

How ironic that a naturalized American is more respectful of our laws and health policies than native born Americans.