HARRY LOBEK, THE GRAND DUCHESS, LONDON

“We closed officially on March 17 and for a month we sat at home and tried to get our head around how to operate a restaurant on a boat with social distancing measures – let alone two.” Harry Lobek and his sister, Leah, founders of London Shell Co, first launched their canal boat – The Prince Regent – from Paddington Basin in December 2016; seafood, cocktails and an all-natural wine list are their calling cards on cruises that would normally take diners (bunched together at small tables down the 21m-long widebeam cruiser) up and down the capital’s Regent’s Canal. The kitchen is three square metres; only marginally bigger is that aboard The Grand Duchess, their moored restaurant alongside. Though The Prince Regent will remain closed until July 10, The Grand Duchess (which operated as a fishmonger during the lockdown) is today celebrating with a two-day party – socially distanced, of course. “We’re having a barbecue and an oyster bar, and I’ve rented loads of deck chairs and bought some lovely parasols to keep everyone on the towpath in the shade,” Lobek says. The parasols span 2.5m, so the spacing is done for them. “We feel that there won’t be such a huge call for busy, packed-out restaurants, so this seemed like the best way to announce our reopening.”

From Tuesday, the boat will resume normal (ish) table service inside; overall, it has lost half of its tables. Baking timers will go off every 40 minutes, signalling to the staff that it’s time to wash hands, and a safe queuing system will be in place. “We know a lot of people will be watching what they spend at the moment,” says Lobek, “so we’re getting creative to make more economical dishes.”