Local businesses find silver lining to opening a business during the pandemic and last updated 2021-03-10 18:33:33-05 LAFAYETTE â Opening a new business during the pandemic doesn't seem like the best idea, but for two businesses downtown, it seemed like the perfect storm. Robert Brankline, the Executive Chef at Grocery Tavern and Deli, and his staff decided to kick start their business last year when the pandemic began to set in and many non-essential businesses started to close their doors. "The whole process of getting things paid for, for the services that we needed slowed down because of all the small business loans that were being produced," says Brankline.