'Specials on text, sanitiser on the side': Restaurants battle to revive dine-in culture

(La Coupole restaurant, Paris - AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

On Day 85 of the COVID-19 lockdown, sitting in the midst of a containment zone in India’s most affected city Mumbai, all I can think of is a gigantic, piping hot, served with a smile, cold beer and a lot of oregano - Pizza! No, not the - deliver to the building gate with masks and gloves kind of takeaway in a box Pizza. I crave for the - sit down leisurely listening to Chet Baker in the background reading origins of cheese in the ordering menu kind of pizza. The one that you can smell way before it’s reached your table - pizza. The one order that makes every other table look up from their phones or their lover’s eyes, envy palpable on their faces - pizza. 

But unless the virus decides to magically disappear overnight, that pizza is not reaching my table as the restaurant industry battles one of its worst existential crises because of the pandemic. Across the world, restaurants have been forced out of business - US, France, Australia. In Toronto at least 8 restaurants that were running successfully for years have shut shops because of coronavirus. And closer to home, in Mumbai - dessert chef Pooja Dhingra’s Le15 Cafe faced a similar fate. 

‘Battle to retain our mere existence’

With expenses such as staff salaries, high rents, utilities, licenses, taxes and supplies, and no income to bear all of that - it is a high bleeding business. The National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) in a press release, recently called the situation a ‘battle to retain our mere existence’, adding that the restaurant industry in India has an annual turnover of approximately Rs 4 lakh crore and employs over seven million people, but all of this is at risk because as an industry, the business model is such that the proportion of fixed operating expenses is multifold, which is a ‘very high-risk model’. Talking about the risk, Gaurav Jethmalani, owner of the restaurant chain Rassasy by Barcelos (Andheri) says, “without any support from the government or the landlords, it would be very difficult for a lot of restaurants to even restart the operations.”

“I think the future holds good things for all of us,” said Tim Butler, the American co-owner of Eat Me, a restaurant in Bangkok’s central business district. “It’s just a matter of can we survive to the point where the world returns to normalcy.” Still, Butler, a 42-year-old chef from Maine, has deep concerns about making it through this year. “Our fear, for the longtime guys in this industry, is not getting the restaurants reopened - that’s the easy part - it’s keeping the restaurants opened,” he said.

(Cafe terrace in Lille, northern France - AP Photo/Michel Spingler)

Another major challenge that restaurants in India are facing is from Food Services Aggregators (FSA) such as Zomato, Swiggy. As more and more people get used to the aggregators, restaurants have to sign up with them accepting all the terms laid out – including discounts, commissions, and delivery handling. Food videographer Sumedh Natu, says, "The future seems bleak for restaurants. They're going to face a lot of taboo and stigma over the next few months despite being allowed to open with 50% reservation. A lot of them will face a very heartbreaking shut down. I hope they can power through it."

So while we all wait and hope to visit our favourite eatery again, it’s safe to say, the dine-in world as we know is about to change, if not changed already. Owner of the now-shut Vibe Liquiteria, Shaan Mayal says “restaurants will now have to innovate and work towards things like virtual cooking classes, meal-prep kits.” 

THE FUTURE? 

In the post-COVID world, menus would probably be digital with tables placed 6 feet apart, wet-wipes, sanitisers available in abundance along with smiles hidden behind a mask. At El Salamanca, a Barcelona beachfront restaurant customers use their smartphones to scan a QR code to consult what is on offer. Greek restaurants are using salt and pepper sachets inside of shakers, and menus are either thrown away after each meal or are laminated and wiped down regularly. 

(Amsterdam’s Mediamatic restaurant- AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

In Hofheim, Germany, the Beef’n Beer is using large teddy bears seated at some tables to keep diners properly spaced apart. At Amsterdam’s Mediamatic restaurant, the owners have erected small glasshouses that surround each table, served by waiters in protective shields. French celebrity chef Alain Ducasse unveiled a novel air ventilation system in one of his smallest Parisian restaurants to try to overcome the distancing restrictions related to the coronavirus.

Owners are now seeking solutions that will coax back customers, while also easing their anxiety about catching COVID, as the reviews would no longer be just about food and service, they would also be on how anti-virus the establishment is. 

So, while the new guidelines issued by the Indian Central Government for hotels and restaurants allow having seating arrangements with social-distancing norms in place, take-aways are still largely being encouraged- and hence the question looms - will I ever have that Pizza and eat it too?