Putten restaurateur puts a stop to inconsistent corona rules
Here’s a riddle for you: why are you allowed to sit in a car with four friends, but not at the same table on a terrace? I don’t have the answer, but hospitality entrepreneur Ferdi van Essen of Terra Nova in Putten does have a solution…
He simply put a few cars on his terrace for people to sit in. Ferdi called the local scrapyard, and they supplied him with some old cars that he could convert—and voilà: relaxing on a terrace in a car.
The new terrace furniture is, of course, more of a tongue-in-cheek gesture and a signal to the ministry, intended to get people thinking about the confusing, often contradictory corona rules, than a permanent fixture. But you can genuinely sit in them. “As of today, guests can come and enjoy a drink on my terrace, and a car just happens to be my terrace furniture. After all, you are allowed to sit in one car with four people from different households. And whether that car is parked in a parking lot or on the terrace makes no difference.”
A car naturally takes up quite a bit more space than a table, so a truly major terrace expansion is not an option. There are currently two cars in which four people can enjoy a drink, and one for three people.
Ferdi isn’t worried about getting a fine. “Provided the municipal inspector has a sense of humor.”
Image: Terra Nova
Read also:
