Mediamatic starts dinners in private greenhouses: ‘I’m annoyed by the hospitality industry whining about the 1.5-metre rule’
Dusk, candlelight, fairy lights and cute little greenhouses where people can enjoy a lovely dinner. The photos of Mediamatic’s ‘Serres Séparées’—their answer to the 1.5-metre restaurant—are undeniably evocative. So it’s hardly surprising that the ‘solution’ has been well received by the media and the public. But what Willem Velthoven, Mediamatic’s founder and director, subsequently says about other hospitality businesses, I find incomprehensible.
Velthoven says he is annoyed by colleagues in the sector who claim that it is impossible to be hospitable at a distance of 1.5 metres, report AD and Het Parool. “It may be difficult for large hospitality entrepreneurs who run businesses focused on peak crowds and mass turnover. But there is another part of the hospitality industry where it’s about attention, taking the time and care. These businesses are much less threatened. Mediamatic is an example of that,” says Velthoven.
Dining in a mini-greenhouse
His solution: ‘Serres Séparées’, a few mini-greenhouses—which he still had from previous projects—set up along the water, giving guests an ‘intimate and safe dining experience’. A super-fun idea, absolutely, I get it. But I think plenty of hospitality entrepreneurs with a terrace like that, a view like that and a stack of vacant greenhouses would have done exactly the same. So why the dig? And why not tell the whole story? Because nowhere do you read that Mediamatic is not at all comparable to ‘regular’ hospitality businesses.
Patronising
Mediamatic is a foundation, after all. And it receives subsidies. There’s nothing wrong with that either, but comparing your situation with that of hospitality entrepreneurs who cannot cover part of their rent and staff costs through their foundation, who have not been awarded such a huge plot of land in a prime location by the municipality, who have had to pay transfer costs, who have invested all their savings in their business and are entirely dependent on their hospitality turnover for their income—and then dismissing them as fellow hospitality entrepreneurs who are unable to think in terms of solutions, that patronising tone is what does annoy me.
‘Maybe I put it too bluntly’
So I asked him about it. “Maybe I put it too bluntly; I understand that it is genuinely very difficult for many small entrepreneurs too. What annoys me are the larger hospitality entrepreneurs whom I see speaking on television on behalf of the entire sector, and all I hear them do is repeat that the 1.5-metre rule is unworkable. Of course, it’s unpleasant and very difficult, but that is not a message I identify with. It doesn’t help the sector move forward.”
Reinventing itself
The fact that its business model may be structured somewhat differently from that of most hospitality entrepreneurs is not relevant in this case, according to Velthoven. “Sixty per cent of Mediamatic’s income comes from its own revenue; besides the restaurant, we have a creative hub, run projects and exhibitions, and much more. Both the restaurant and the cultural side have stopped because of the coronavirus crisis. We too have to completely rethink what we do.”
Alongside the ‘Serres Séparées’, Velthoven has a few other ideas: “For example, I expect breakfast and lunch culture to take off. That would be a convenient way to spread the crowds throughout the day.”
Fully booked
For now, the mini-greenhouses are only open in the evenings. Reservations are no longer possible; they were fully booked in a single day. Velthoven does not yet know whether more slots will be made available online. “This was a trial balloon; we still need to work things out with the hospitality licence. Because the greenhouses are outside the restaurant, it is unclear whether they fall under our existing hospitality licence. So we’ll have to wait and see.”
Whether dining in a greenhouse or outside one, here at FavorFlav we can’t wait until we can eat out again, and we wish all hospitality entrepreneurs the very best with their reopening (hopefully soon).
Image: Willem Velthoven/Mediamatic
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- Willem Velthoven/Mediamatic
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- Willem Velthoven/Mediamatic
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