Future Dining Experiences Subject to Changes as Covid-19 Modifies Restaurant Etiquette
As the world adjusts to the changing dynamics of social living amid the coronavirus pandemic, the hospitality sector is also making amendments in its everyday functioning in order to attract customers. While most countries around the world begin easing the lockdown and people head to restaurants to satisfy their food cravings,future dining experiences will reflect a completely different world.
Several restaurant owners and big food chains are adapting advanced technology to adhere to the social distancing protocols. Many restaurants have introduced robots to do thermal scanning of each customer. Some have discarded the usage of paper menus for QR Codes that can be scanned via phones. Disposable cups and plates are also being considered as a more sanitary option.
Having more restaurants than New York or London per capita, Dubai’s restaurants have been severely affected by the pandemic. Moreover, the business of food delivery service providers — Uber Eats and Deliveroo has also downsized. Referring to the changes in future dining experiences, industry experts claim that besides focusing on good food and ambience, customers will now look for restaurants that follow proper social distancing mandates.
Designers are also coming up with innovative seating designs to encourage customers to come to dine-in restaurants. A Paris-based designer Christophe Gernigon has introduced a stylish shield that hangs directly above a person’s chair. An industrial equipment supplier in France — Sitour has already put these shields into production.
In Germany, famous fast-food chain Burger King has debuted ‘social-distance crowns’ to keep customers at a 6 feet distance. Speaking to Business Insider, a representative of the food giant said, “We wanted to reinforce the rules of high safety and hygiene standards that the BK restaurants are following. The do-it-yourself social-distance crown was a fun and playful way to remind our guests to practice social distancing while they are enjoying food in the restaurants.”
A Maryland restaurant in Ocean City — Fish Tales Bar & Grill has transformed inflatable inner tubes into portable tables to keep customers 6 feet apart. A restaurant in Sweden — ‘Bord för En’ is delivering food via basket on a rope pulley system.
Even though restaurant and café owners are trying to improve future dining experiences for their customers by using technology, it remains to be seen if these tactics are a good investment to make in the long run. In case a vaccine for Covid-19 arrives by the end of this year, it seems unlikely that people would still like to be separated by glass shields like the one introduced in Paris. Consequently, the need to investment in such arrangements in the long run remains to be carefully assessed by restaurant owners.
