There was a moment back in March when Carl Georigi thought his six Delaware restaurants would never reopen and the flourishing hospitality group he founded in 1996 would crumble. Sitting at a patio table Monday evening at his Capers & Lemons Italian restaurant off Centerville Road shortly after it began offering dining services again after being closed for 10 weeks, Georigi choked up briefly recounting the memory.

Georigi said he looked around the empty room of one of his other establishments, RedFire Grill & Steakhouse in Hockessin, and turned off the lights. As his eyes clouded with tears, Georigi said he thought it was the end of his 37-year restaurant career.