June 8th is when restaurants are permitted to reopen after the lockdown imposed on March 24. Even as it was lifted in phases and various businesses and services resumed, the food & beverage industry — which had been allowed to continue with deliveries — awaited the go-ahead to open for dining. The most recent set of relaxations in the lockdown permits restaurants to serve customers on their premises from this week.
Anyone expecting that restaurateurs would be rushing to arrange tables as per social distancing norms, print disposable menus and place hand sanitizer everywhere isn’t too aware of the ground reality. We spoke with some restaurateurs, chefs and hotel heads to gauge their preparedness for the ‘reopening’.
‘I will NOT be opening any of my restaurants any time soon,’ says Chef Saby Gorai, who heads acclaimed dining rooms such as Lavaash and Poppins Hotal in Delhi and Mineority in Pune. He’s swamped, trying to negotiate the payment of rents that have been piling up for his outlets all of which have upmarket addresses. ‘Weeks of being shut down with no revenue means I’m already in the red. Opening to a shaky market is only going to worsen things,’ he said. ‘Large brands backed by investors with deep pockets may be compelled to open, as they’ll at least have to be seen displaying some optimism. I’m not in that situation, so I will wait this period out.’
The hugely talented and creative chef is spending this time producing teaching modules for culinary students and professionals. He’s also putting out a small range of gourmet foods personally cooked by him for takeaway and home delivery.
Chef Vikas Seth of Sanchez and Sriracha, plus Hopshaus, the microbrewery, in Bangalore, said his back-end team was ready to reopen for dining, but was awaiting some guidelines from the state government. He expects that there will be an initial wave of people, who have been missing going out, coming in to eat. ‘People are also wary of entertaining guests at home, so a restaurant where frequent sanitizing and other hygiene routines are followed may be a better option for them,’ he said. ‘We may also see small groups booking one section of the restaurant.’ What’s going to be in demand is the concept of personal chefs at home for those who have the luxury of a lawn or terrace, according to Chef Vikas. ‘The 9 pm closing rule is going to be a dampener, but Bangalore may adjust to that. Things will slowly assume a semblance of normalcy, but it’s going to be nothing like we knew before March 2020,’ he said.
The five-star hotels have been hard at work, putting new routines and drills in place for their staff. GM of The Den in Whitefield, Vinesh Gupta, said the hotel is ready for operations, but can only expect revenues when the business guests start coming. Layla, the charming, windswept rooftop restaurant, will reopen after much thought and planning. ‘We explored many options, such as dividers between guests and have decided on diagonal seating at each table,’ he said. ‘Menus will be digital and guests can scan them via a QR code and view them on their own phones. Food will be placed on a tray jack next to diners and they will help themselves.’ Lunch service, Vinesh said, will be dull until corporate dining picks up. The hotel’s all-day restaurant, Creek, will, however, not open, simply because protocols for how to lay out and serve a buffet are not available yet. This is going to be a challenge for all places that until now had a serve-yourself style.
Mohan Reddy of the popular Andhra chain, Nagarjuna, in Bangalore, has prepared his restaurants to welcome dine-in customers, reducing their capacity by half. ‘It’ll be a low-key reopening,’ he said. ‘I stay connected with many of our customers and they have been saying how much they miss the banana leaf meal experience. I expect them to come. Our decision to reopen is also because we do not wish to lose that connection and it can happen over several months of closure.’ The loss of revenue from the lockdown months is still an issue to grapple with. Reddy has negotiated 50 % of the rentals for most of his outlets. ‘Delivery cannot prop up a business like ours. If dining in picks up and the revenues come I’ll be repaying the landlords the remaining half. If business remains sluggish, I’m not averse to shutting down a couple of my branches,’ he says, with pragmatism.
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Here are the guidelines for restaurants opening for dine-in. (Source: PIB).
Restaurants will have to put in place arrangements for the following:
– Mandatory hand sanitizing and temperature screening. We recommend a foot pedal-operated sanitizer dispenser (available now for around Rs.1,000) and an infra-red thermometer (available for around Rs.3,000). Most sanitizers leave a residue on the hands, so restaurants can make provisions for customer to wash their hands with soap once they enter the restaurant.
– All staff to wear face cover/masks and gloves.
– 50% seating capacity and 6 feet of physical distancing: While the 50% seating capacity can be managed by large restaurants, the smaller ones will struggle managing this. Also, when business picks up, customers who come will be frustrated when they will have to wait while they see empty tables. The 6 feet of physical distancing is a tough one to adhere to. How, for instance, will staff serve the food? Our guess is that if tables are placed in a way that no two unrelated customers are at a distance of less than 6 feet, that should work.
– Tables to be sanitized after each customer dines and leaves.
– Disposable menus/contactless ordering & payments are encouraged. The simplest solution would be to use disposable paper menus and a UPI method for payments. There seem to be several contactless ordering solutions available now which allow a customer to scan a QR code, see the menu and place an order. Larger restaurants can implement these. The smaller ones should opt for disposable menus and digital payments.
– Air conditioners can be used (set @24 degrees)
We expect some confusion in the beginning but, hopefully, things will settle down in a few days as was the case with grocery stores and liquor shops.
