Deliveries and ‘quarantine combos’: City’s bars and restaurants adapt to new reality
To curb the coronavirus pandemic, we’re told to stay home and minimise non-essential outings. Buenos Aires’ bars and restaurants are suffering as a result – and they’re adapting to a new reality.
Reactions to the crisis are diverse. Those that remain opened until Thursday took extreme hygiene measures and reduced table numbers, maintaining the officially suggested distance between diners. Others shut up their dining rooms and placed bets on delivery and take away options. All of sudden, “quarantine combos” began to appear, seducing eaters and boosting consumption.
“It’s a time of great uncertainty. We are trying to adapt to the government’s measures,” said Guadalupe García Mosqueda, the creator of Casa Cavia, Orno Pizzería and Pablo’s Bakery. “But in this job it’s almost impossible to do anything remote, because we’re in the kitchen. ”
Fears are rife in the food and entertainment sector.
“The industry’s fear is that there are premises that will close and won’t be reopened,” said García Mosqueda.
Agustín Latorre, the owner of
Osaka, agrees. He decided to try and “revive” his business with a bet on take-aways.
“For the first time in the history of the brand we incorporated the delivery system, with our own method and soon we will be on all platforms. We have a giant fixed structure and for us it is unsustainable to close. Even though the turnover is very small, each cover adds to us so that at the end of the month we can pay our salaries,” explained the restaurateur.
The Dandy chain is also registering its delivery options on all platforms, adapting its menu according to most popular orders, promoting the supply of pizzas, sandwiches, cakes and salads. The same is happening with more traditional restaurants too, such as Sottovoce, Quotidiano, Burladero and Fervor, which are making their first steps into take-away and delivery systems.
The Villegas grill in Puerto Madero, which is mostly frequented by tourists, has had to be reinvented. It has signed up to delivery and telephone order platforms with special packaging, to ensure the correct temperature of the meat and the dishes is maintained as long as possible. It also launched several “quarantine combo” options.
Several restaurants such as Hell’s Pizza, Canta el gallo and Bruce Grill Station & Wine Bar, have granted discounts of up to 30 percent for those who choose a take-out option.
“We’re going to put all our guns to work to encourage the delivery service more than ever. It’s an opportunity for many restaurants,” said Carlos Araujo, owner of La Causa Nikkei, Sushi Pop and Izakaya Sushi.
We have “to pay essential bills like those of equipment and suppliers,” he said.
At Fayer, the Israeli cuisine restaurant in Palermo, they decided to take extreme disinfection and hygiene measures in order to remain open, although with a reduced number of tables to comply with the suggested distance of one metre apart.
“Wwe are taking this situation very seriously in order to continue operating,” said owner Alejandro Pitashny.
At the top end of the market, however, things aren’t quite so simple. Most haute cuisine restaurants have decided to close completely, since their offerings are impossible to adapt to delivery services. why big names such as Aramburu and Tegui, will not open their doors until March 31 – or perhaps further down the line.