Published 17:48 IST, May 19th 2020
Restaurant puts up 'cardboard cutouts' to fill tables and make diners feel comfortable
Recently, a restaurant in Syndey, Australia placed ‘cardboard customers’ on empty chairs to make it appear normal amid COVID-19 lockdown.
With many countries easing lockdown restrictions, restaurants, café and eateries have begun reopening in many countries like the Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany etc. However, in a bid to prevent a second wave of COVID-19 infection, many have come up with innovative ideas to keep people at safe distances.
'Cardboard customers'
Recently, a restaurant in Syndey, Australia placed ‘cardboard customers’ on empty chairs to make it appear normal amid lockdown. As per Australian authorities, restaurants in the country could now seat ten customers at a time while adhering to social distancing rules. However, ‘Five dock dining’ which beliefs in a "having a laugh and making the most of the situation" came up with this new idea to make dining enjoyable.
Taking to Facebook, the restaurant shared a clip that showed cardboard cuttings of people sitting on different tables. Along with the clip, the business wrote that now most of their customers were now in “2D”. Since shared, the post has garnered over 555 likes with many lauding the restaurant for its creativity.
Recently, a café in Germany reportedly handled out hats with swimming pool noodles taped atop them to make sure visitors maintained safe distance amongst them. The Schwerin based café, Cafe & Konditorei Rothe also took to social media to share photographs fo people enjoying their meals while they wear vibrant swimming pool straw hats sitting on different tables.
Owner Jacqueline Rothe reportedly said that customers enjoyed the silly hats, but the experiment proved how hard it is to maintain the distance, even for well-informed adults. Further, she added, this was the perfect method to keep customers apart — and a fun one. It was a perfect gag and of course, it was humorous for some, but customers were really into it. However, what it did show to the café was how difficult it is to keep a distance of 1.5 meters, she added.
Meanwhile, a restaurant in Amsterdam, Netherlands has introduced ‘quarantine greenhouses’ so as to enable customers to maintain social distancing. Coronavirus has deeply affected the Netherlands and stringent measures have been imposed to curb its spread. However, balancing the concept of 'eating out' and social distancing, the restaurant named Mediamatic ETEN is serving a four-course vegetarian menu to customers in their personal greenhouses.
Updated 17:48 IST, May 19th 2020