In the era of necessary social distancing, businesses are being tasked with ways to avoid having close contact between customers while still being able to serve people and stay afloat. The restaurant industry in particular is at the forefront of this effort, as dining out sort of relies on sitting in an enclosed space with a bunch of other people enjoying some delicious food… or does it? Amsterdam restaurant Mediamatic Eten has created individual greenhouses so that people can still enjoy eating out while staying safe.
- The vegan restaurant may be onto something. While they’re not planning to open until May 21, Mediamatic Eten plans to seat diners in individual greenhouses that allow them to have a nice meal with a beautiful view while still respecting social distancing rules during their dining experience.
- They’re calling it “Serres Sépparées.” As they explained on their Instagram page, “Serres Sépparées is one of our new dining concepts. With the current situation, it’s difficult to open a restaurant with limited space. So why don’t we add to our location and create a safe and intimate home for partners to reconnect, with the outside world at their own leisure. Our signature plant-based cuisine will be available for guests to enjoy in one bubble or in the newly renovated main restaurant.”
- The restaurant is taking other safety precautions too. In addition to social distancing dining in greenhouses, the waiters at the Dutch restaurant will all wear face shields and serve all food on a wooden board so there’s no direct contact between customers and staff. “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,” Willem Velthoven of Mediamatic told Reuters.
- Reservations through June have already filled up. The restaurant is still waiting to get permission from local government to reopen with the greenhouses, but assuming all is well, they’ll be ready to serve customers again in just a couple of weeks. It’s all going to seem very strange when we first venture out again, but this is a whole new world and whatever ways we can try to get back to normal, we’ll take it.
