The small moments in life we have always taken for granted have just become special. Just enjoying that unique coffee experience in a local cafe is treasured now.

I know that's the case for me. I started working from home this week, but I found time every day to visit my nearest coffee local, Common Circus. The same smiling faces were there to greet me - as I swiped my card. And no keep cups for now - just when I was getting into the habit.

But the same civilised clientele, patiently chatting, or glancing at the shop's merchandise, or looking at their phones, were all there. To call it soothing in these times is an understatement.

So it is with admiration that I watch our hospitality industry think on their feet, respond in real time with takeaway offers, "swipe" technology, online apps not only to keep their customers happy but to stay in business during perhaps the most threatening and uncertain circumstances in our lives.

The story that Newcastle Herald writers for Weekender have created about who is doing what in the Hunter and Newcastle hospitality industry is a must-read if you eat out or enjoy a coffee on the run.

Over the past few days our writers have reached out to at least 142 venues in and around our city (I say at least because they are still reporting, reaching out, working on the story, even as I write this).

Some businesses have had to close their doors for now. Some are soldiering on as best that they can. All have had to change.

But, perhaps the most heartening thing in such an uncertain time is that they are all are doing everything that they can for their patrons and their employees.

"There are many restaurants scrambling to prepare menus and staff to be able to deliver from next week. Susuru has invested in another delivery bike as deliveries ramp up - it is already extremely difficult to buy essential foods at supermarkets, and the simple fact is people must eat," Susuru Ramen and Gyoza Bar owner Taiyo Namba has told us.

There you have it. People must eat.

Our cafes, and restaurants and bars are doing it tough at the moment. They have contributed so much to what makes our city and our region as vibrant and social and unique as it is, and even now - as we all struggle to come to terms with what is going on each new hour - they are still looking out for us.

This is the time to be responsible. To be calm. To be mindful of our health, and of others. To listen to the experts, and follow their advice.

And it's the time when we need to look out for each other.

Because, in all that we have seen this week to make us feel uncertain, the thing that keeps showing up are the people who are doing everything they can to look out for us.

Jim.

- Read Jade Lazarevic's and Lisa Rockman's reporting on the virus impact on Newcastle and Hunter hospitality industry before it publishes in tomorrow's Weekender.

- Jim Kellar is the editor of Weekender in the pages of the Newcastle Herald.