This week, politicians outlined the next phase for the economy, reopening, while business leaders shared their stories with the staff at Restaurant Hospitality.

On April 17, the White House's coronavirus task force outlined the three phases of reopening the country, called "Opening up America" where sit down dining will be the first to open while bars will follow in the next phase. President Trump announced that 29 states were currently close to meeting reopening requirements set by the task force.

This came two days after Trump named over two dozen food industry executives to the "Economic Revival Group" to address the needs of restaurants and the food industry as states begin to ease lockdown restrictions.

And on Tuesday, the Senate passed the latest coronavirus stimulus bill that included a replenishment of the Paycheck Protection Program, the program that ran out of money in two weeks and was publically shamed for providing big restaurant chains like Ruth's Chris and Shake Shack with $10 million while smaller restaurants couldn't even access the website.

Our writers have been putting in more effort to hear individual stories from around the restaurant world. This week, Bret Thorn spoke with Andrew Gruel of Slapfish about how he's been handling the coronavirus pandemic in his restaurants. The two men spoke over Zoom about where the seafood chain is heading after the crisis begins to wane and the community at large.

See what else was trending on Restaurant Hospitality this week.