These seven things we won’t experience after June 1
Hooray, restaurants and cafés may open again on June 1! Carefully, with a maximum number of guests, a minimum distance and all kinds of protective measures. Our prediction: we won’t experience these seven things anymore in the near future.
‘A table for two? In half an hour, just wait a little while’
With mild annoyance, we used to have to wait for a table at our favorite restaurant before corona (can you still remember?). Take Thai restaurant Bird in Amsterdam: always a queue. You stood crammed together in the narrow passageway by the bar, or in line out on the street. It was really just part of your dinner, and you had to make some sacrifices for the perfect pad thai. But those days are over. We’ll probably have to make a reservation via an app or phone number and be directed to a table as quickly as possible.
Staff clear the table in one go
Napkins, glasses, cutlery: all of them may be contaminated with tiny droplets of saliva. Service staff wear gloves and a face mask to keep the risk of infection as low as possible. In any case, you shouldn’t hand plates to the staff or stack plates up for them in advance – but we warned you about that before.
‘Could you pack up the rest for me to take home?’
Half a pizza left? Was the large portion of spare ribs a little too large? It’s very sensible to have it packed up to take home – or (be honest) for later that night after going out. But the chances of someone making a doggy bag for you now aren’t very high. Because, of course, you’ve also been hanging over that food with your nose. Micro-droplets, gross.
Money on the saucer? Take your credit card to the register?
Walking to the register to pay by card? Don’t. Many hospitality businesses are arranging equipment that can be brought to the table for contactless payment. Such a device is cleaned with a disinfectant wipe after every payment. And the tip? Can we still place it directly on the saucer? That can be done safely, says Rabobank, among others. As long as you don’t want to hand it over, because then that one-and-a-half-meter distance is compromised.
Can we push these tables together?
You’re sitting comfortably on the terrace when a few friends happen to walk by. Fun! Shall we just pull up another table? Don’t. Such a spontaneous rearrangement of the terrace or restaurant was already no hit with the service staff – the terrace is arranged in such a way that everyone can easily walk past and between the tables – but now that they have to guarantee a distance of one and a half meters between everyone, that floor plan has become even more important. So unfortunately, no…
And the salmon with seasonal vegetables is for…?
When the main courses are served, make some space for them on the table yourself. Before, it wasn’t such a problem if the staff had to move your napkin aside or shift your wine glass to the side – but with the new measures, that’s no longer so convenient. You know: cutlery, glass, napkin, all possible sources of infection.
Can we order?
Service staff who wrote everything down in a notebook or simply remembered what you wanted to order may also become a thing of the past. Less contact is better. You’ll probably have to place your order via an app on your mobile phone, an iPad or with a QR code.
