Restaurateurs all over the world are trying to come up with a way to stay on the right side of the social distancing rules, without losing the ambience they’ve spent a fortune establishing over the years.
Eten Restaurant in the Mediamatic Arts Centre in Amsterdam has plonked 5 glass structures that look like greenhouses outside its premises as a way to serve customers and maintain the lockdown restrictions.
The ‘cabins’ can accommodate a maximum of 3 people, staff wear gloves and visors and use long boards to ferry the dishes across the table to their customers in a bid to avoid contact.
Friends and relatives of the staff were reportedly invited to eat at the restaurant so that the workers could get to grips with all the new equipment before restaurants get the all-clear to reopen, which won't happen in the Netherlands until at least May 19.
In the meantime, restaurant chefs are only allowed to supply a takeaway service.
After months of lockdown many, many restaurateurs have already gone bust and thousands of others are hovering on the edge of bankruptcy.
Even if they do survive long enough to reopen they're being forced to cut capacity by at least 50% to meet social distancing rules, which are likely to be in place for some time.
The question is, can these glass cabins be made intimate enough to persuade customers to come back, again and again and again?