Dining Out with Mannequins and Pandas: How to Make an Empty Restaurant Feel Cozy After All
When we go out to eat soon, in the new one-and-a-half-meter society, we’ll have to keep plenty of distance from our fellow diners. Not very cozy! Restaurant Maison Saigon in Bangkok has found a creative solution for all those empty chairs, and star chef Ron Blaauw is also thinking creatively about how to add some extra buzz to the place.
To guarantee one-and-a-half meters of distance, many chairs in a restaurant or café have to remain unoccupied. How do you prevent someone from sitting there anyway? And how do you make sure that even a half-full restaurant looks inviting? Restaurant Maison Saigon has an idea: cuddly pandas on all the remaining chairs. That way, no one is sitting at the table alone. An added bonus: you can give this table companion a nice hug if all this coronavirus business is getting a bit too much for you.
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Mannequin Wearing a Face Mask
In the German city of Laatzen, the owner of a hotel in Laatzen also found herself looking at an uninviting scene of empty chairs and tables in her restaurant. Apparently, she managed to get hold of a cheap batch of mannequins, and they are now sitting at the tables. She has created a lifelike setup: one mannequin has a newspaper on the table, along with a cup of coffee, while another is even wearing a face mask.
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Art from a Damn Difficult Period
Ron Blaauw also liked the idea of using mannequins. He uses figures in his restaurant as a buffer. They are not as lifelike as the German version, because they have been painted by artist Selwyn Senatori. A lot cozier than plexiglass screens, the star chef tells AT5. “This is how we can fight these problems with humor,” he says. And once this whole situation is behind us, he will auction off the arty mannequins for charity. “That way, we’ll still have a memento of this damn difficult period.”
