Muskaan Thakur
After being closed for months, restaurants in most countries are resuming operations. However, utmost care is being taken to follow the safety guidelines. Some restaurants have taken social distancing in their stride and creatively adhering to the new norms. Here are some of the bizarre ideas being implemented by restaurants.
Mannequins
The Inn of Little Washington is a fine-dine, three-star Michelin restaurant in Virginia, USA. Instead of letting tables remain vacant, in order to meet the 50 per cent capacity guideline, chef Patrick O’Connell will fill the seats with mannequins. Hotel Haase in Germany, too, has followed this practice.
Serres Séparées (Separate Greenhouses)
Mediamatic Eten has set up separate greenhouses facing the serene Oosterdok waterside of Amsterdam. This aesthetic setting has had two test runs so far. Plans are in place to soon offer a plant-based dinner. The servers wear protective headgear and gloves, and will serve food on a long wooden plate to avoid human contact.
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Plastic barriers
Penguins Eat Shabu, a hotpot-style restaurant in Bangkok,Thailand, has ensured customers’ safety by introducing plastic barriers. These barriers, allow guests to sit across the table from each other and yet maintain safe distance.
Plex’eat
Designed by Christophe Gernigon, Plex’eat is an innovative way to eat together and yet stay safe. Implemented at H.A.N.D in Paris, this is easy to set up and disinfect. It is also known as the ‘protection bubble’. These bubbles are now available worldwide on-demand.
Stuffed Pandas
Maison Saigon, a Vietnamese restaurant in Thailand has got stuffed panda to keep you company as you enjoy a delicious meal. Each morning these pandas receive a sanitizing sunbath before meeting you and get a disinfectant spray session once you say goodbye.
Bumper tables
Designed by Revolution Event Design & Production, Bumper tables debuted at Fish Tales, a restaurant in Maryland. These tables are for individual use and come with wheels so that diners can move around and interact with others.
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Solo dining
Bord for En, is your go-to place for some solitude. One table, one chair in the middle of the Swedish field and a three-course meal. Sounds like paradise? The food is served in a bucket sent via a rope to maintain minimal human contact.
Cardboard cutouts
An Australian restaurant, Five Dock Dining has filled up its chairs with human-size 2D carboard cutouts to make people feel less lonely and give them a reason to laugh. This initiative has received a positive response, and people can’t wait to dine there.
