The owners of three top Auckland restaurants will be closing their businesses for two weeks because they don't have staff to keep going through the school holidays.
Restaurateurs Sid and Chand Sahrawat, who own Cassia, Sidart and the French Cafe, said the closures would cost them about $300,000 in takings, but they didn't have a choice.
"We just don't have the people, and our staff have been working one-and-a-half times just to keep the business going and they are physically and mentally drained," Chand Sahrawat said.

The Restaurant Association says restaurants across NZ are facing staff shortages that are beyond critical. (Photo / Dean Purcell)
She said the businesses required about 65 staff to run, but was now down to about 50 because of the border closures and immigration rules that made it difficult for people to renew their work visas.
"Business has definitely improved, but we are now faced with the new predicament of not having people to meet the demand," she said.
Sahrawat said it has been impossible to find replacements, and chefs at her restaurants were doing the jobs of two chefs and also washing dishes.
Some of the staff the business had lost were those on working holiday visas, who had returned to Europe after they couldn't get confirmation from Immigration NZ about extensions.
She said locals were not responding to job advertisements, or did not show up for interviews and even agencies had no candidates to offer.
"No one is available to fill the roles, even on a short-term basis."

Chand, left, and Sid Sahrawat at the French Cafe will switch off their lights for two minutes at 7pm to draw attention to staffing difficulties. (Photo / Jason Oxenham)
Sahrawat wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about her plight in May, but did not get a response.
In the letter she said the Government was "cutting off our lifeblood".
The couple and their businesses will today be joining about 2000 restaurants across the country in switching off their lights for two minutes in protest to bring attention to the industry's staffing crisis.
The action is part of a two-month "Reset campaign" led by the Restaurant Association that started with a petition last month calling for further Government consultation on its immigration policy.
"The situation is beyond critical and is seriously impacting our businesses from keeping their doors open," said association chief executive Marisa Bidois.
"With 20,000 workers needed over the next five years in the sector, this is a real issue for our industry and we want to work with Government to find workable solutions that keep businesses operational."

Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois says staffing shortages faced by the industry is beyond critical. (Photo / Supplied)
Pre-Covid, New Zealand's hospitality industry was made up of between 25-30 per cent of migrant workers.
Now, this sits around 15 per cent and the industry is facing nationwide shortages of chefs, bartenders, waiters, kitchen hands and maitres de maison - and large chains are not immune from the shortages.
Bidois said the lights out action - at 11.30am or 7pm depending on opening hours - was designed to give the dining public an idea of what our cities will look like with hospitality establishments closed for business.
Sahrawat said she was taking part in lights out because half of her staff were on some type of visa who "deserved some reassurance" about their future in NZ.
"We want the Government to open up constructive dialogue with us about the future of the industry and how it can best work for Kiwis and migrants," she said.

Restaurant Association president Mike Egan wants the Government to open up a constructive dialogue with the industry. (Photo / Mark Mitchell)
The campaign called on the Government to provide urgent additional visa extension for work visa holders currently in NZ, and allow border exceptions for critical workers in the hospitality industry where there is a proven need.
It...