Creative Restaurant Dining Solutions For A Post Coronavirus World
I remember when I thought that this would last two weeks and then everything would go back to normal. Eight weeks later, I’ve slowly accepted that normal as we know it is gone. Most disheartening to me is what the restaurant of the near future will look like.
One of my biggest concerns is how much the ambiance of restaurants could change. I understand and will fully abide by the new safety protocols, but, I’ll still miss the charm that I’ve come to love from restaurants as I remember them. As dining rooms across the world have slowly started opening up, it’s been interesting to see some of the creative ways that restaurateurs are tackling this problem.
Here are some of my favorite ideas from the past week.
Public spaces for dining. In Vilnius, Lithuania the government is allowing restaurants to set up tables in plazas, on streets, and in squares free of charge. This will allow the restaurants to abide by the two meters of distance between each table that the government has imposed. There is currently a proposal floating around in Berkeley, California for a similar measure. I think this is a great initiative and a solid solution for the short term. Restaurants are able to take advantage of the season by having more space to serve diners, a better ambiance is provided, people are safer. This seems like a win-win to get economies moving again.
Mannequins. I chuckled a bit when I saw this, but I think it’s an ingenious idea. There’s something cold and uninviting about using tape or plastic or cardboard dividers to separate diners from each other. In Virginia, the Michelin-starred restaurant The Inn at Little Washington is using mannequins dressed in old fashioned clothing to mark unavailable tables. The mannequins’ attire fits in with the overall theme of the restaurant and servers will interact with them like guests. I think this is brilliant. I think another twist on this could be thinking of restaurants as art galleries and displaying art in the unavailable spaces.
Pods. There have been several pod dining solutions to come out, but my favorite comes from the ETEN restaurant at the Mediamatic arts center in Amsterdam. It’s beautiful, quaint and romantic. Oh…I didn’t tell you what the thing was….They’re using greenhouses! (See the image at the top of the post.)
Super Market. Fat Rice, a critically acclaimed Portuguese-Asian restaurant in Chicago, said to hell with trying to make this restaurant thing work…maybe it’s time for a new way. I agree with them. For Fat Rice, instead of running a restaurant, they’re going to focus on meal kits that people can stop in and purchase. Super Fat Rice Mart, as it will be called, will also sell sauce blends and imported pantry items. I can see the “restamart” (I haven’t seen this word used yet, so I’m claiming it) trend continue to develop over the next.6 months and I’m with it.
Overall, I’m interested to see what could become a mass evolution for restaurants. By nature, restaurateurs are very resilient, so instead of looking at this as a time for despair, I’m excited for the months of innovation ahead.