Dining out is back and outside for time being

Little is as enjoyable as a lunch or dinner outside on a patio in Santa Fe, especially when the sun is shining and a slight breeze cools a hot day. Good food, cooked by someone else. No dishes to wash. Enjoyable conversations.

It’s coming back, with restaurants opening this week for patio dining after Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham altered her public health order. The number of diners remains reduced — at 50 percent of capacity — as New Mexico continues to reopen its economy in a safe, sustained manner.

And instead of only being able to offer delivery or pickup service, restaurants once more can offer food to people who will stay put and eat. Who knows? Trash could be reduced in parks, too — that would be a welcome side effect.

The soft openings began Wednesday and should provide restaurant operators the opportunity to ensure that tables are spaced properly, sanitation protocols are in place and enough workers are on hand to make the customer experience worthwhile. By June 1 — that’s Monday — people will be able to eat inside restaurants, another step on the path to living with COVID-19 for the foreseeable future.

These partial reopenings could make the difference in keeping alive an essential part of the Santa Fe and New Mexico economies. Small businesses of all types are key to our state’s well-being, but the food business is one of the most important paths to economic sustainability for many.

Santa Fe is a town rich in dining choices, with longtime New Mexican powerhouse restaurants, fine cuisine and sizzling tacos served from food trucks, not to mention an array of foods from countries all over the globe. The dining scene is one of the most attractive characteristics of this town, and having the opportunity to eat out is one of the better recent developments.

Even while adhering to stay-at-home orders, Santa Fe residents have made a concerted effort to visit their favorite eating spots, picking up or having food delivered. We were delighted to read of 76-year-old Barbara Gage, who has tried about 20 new restaurants during the pandemic to support local business. We have appreciated watching favorite eating spots adapt, too, as when restaurants started selling yeast, flour and eggs — all hard-to-find commodities during the pandemic. Such adaptation is going to be a key to success going forward.

That’s why the discussions going on about using sidewalks, streets and parking lots for additional open-air dining are encouraging. The city of Santa Fe wants to work with these important local businesses to help them serve enough customers — safely — so that restaurants survive, even thrive.

A new permitting process is being unveiled to allow restaurants across the city to serve outside, nontraditionally. Space must be contiguous to existing floor plans and restaurants need to follow safe practices and city regulations. Parking lot dining al fresco, sidewalk eating and other outdoor delights await— and eventually, the city should expand the program to use closedoff Plaza streets to give eateries a wide footprint and diners plenty of space.

All of this should relieve the sense of being shut in that everyone under stay-athome orders has felt, while also helping restaurants make enough money to bring back workers and cover costs — even make a profit. These are difficult times, but being able to break bread together is a welcome development.