5 WAYS EATERIES ARE MAKING THEIR SPACES LOOK FULL.
Many restaurants and bars have begun the process of restarting dine-in operations. Establishments are getting creative with the use of barriers, props and other objects to enforce social distancing and make their dining spaces seem more lively. Here are some creative examples:
1
MANNEQUINS AT THE INN AT LITTLE WASHINGTON
This three-star Michelin restaurant in the Washington, D.C., area (see photo above) will fill the dining room with mannequins wearing 1940s-style outfits. The restaurant, known for its theatrics and glamorous environment, said the performance art project will remain “within the whimsical vein of the Inn’s reverently irreverent approach to hospitality.”
2
INNER TUBES AT FISH TALES
This restaurant in Ocean City, Md., will use what it calls the “bumper table” to help guests maintain two metres of distance. Diners step into a rolling table surrounded by an inner tube so they can eat, socialize and walk around the space without worrying about getting too close to anyone.
3
POOL NOODLES AT CAFÉ ROTHE
In Schwerin, Germany, this café’s guests will wear straw hats with colourful pool noodles attached to the top. “It was a perfect gag and of course it was funny; our customers were really into it. But what it did show to us (was) how difficult it is to keep that distance,” the owner said.
4
GREENHOUSES AT ETEN
The restaurant at Amsterdam’s Mediamatic arts centre ushered in a project that has diners sit in individual glass enclosures along the Oosterdok marina. While serving, staff wear plastic face shields and gloves and set meals into the glass boxes by using a long wooden plank. “We are now learning how to do the cleaning, how to do the service, how to get the empty plates out again in an elegant way, so you still feel taken care of nicely,” Mediamatic said.
5
CARDBOARD CUTOUTS AT FIVE DOCK DINING
In Sydney, Five Dock’s modern Italian restaurant has deployed cardboard cutouts of customers placed in random seats, while a background noise emulates the din of a crowded restaurant. Only 10 diners are allowed at a time, but the owner has taken reopening in stride. “The cutouts and background noise are a bit eerie when you first walk in,” he said. “But once you’re sitting down, it’s a bit of fun.”