On any normal day, Salehe Safaris Hotel in Nairobi Central Business District would accommodate up to 400 persons at its peak.
The number now, an attendant in the two-floor establishment located along Koinange Street says, has gone down to 150, on a good day. But these are no normal days.
“Most customers do not even sit down for a meal. They prefer to order take away, sit at the table as they wait, and then leave as soon as they are handed their meal,” she says.
The move to re-open eateries and restaurants, while having come as a reprieve to the sector apparently worst hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, has also left many unsure of how to run their once-thriving businesses.
Sitting occupancy
Even the move to reduce cost of testing food handlers from Sh4,000 to Sh1,000 may be a drop in the ocean considering that the establishments have to reduce the sitting occupancy to adhere to the one-metre apart rule between customers.
They are also not supposed to serve salads and buffets. Some eateries, like Java Koinange, have stuck to take away as they await a fairer working environment.
But even take away, as The Standard learnt, is not thriving as before.
“In a day, I would have up to 15 deliveries. These days you are lucky to get eight,” said Peter Maina, a food delivery person whom we encountered at CJ’s restaurant in Nairobi’s CBD.
While cash strapped establishments are downsizing, some restaurants around the world are injecting in more cash with out-of-the-box innovations.
Take for instance Mediamatic vegan restaurant in Amsterdam, which is set to open on May 21, 2020 and has come up with green houses to make customers feel safe and protect others.
The restaurant has set up a number of ‘green houses’ or bubbles where customers can sit, and be locked in as they enjoy their meal.
They are transparent and look like an actual green house. Unlike in Kenya where the Ministry of Health demands one-metre distance between customers, this restaurant allows groups of individuals.
“Groups can be no larger than three people, and must already live together (sorry, no first dates for now),” reads the report by Time Out.
It adds: “There are plans to use bigger green houses for larger households in future.”
A test run on how the restaurants will work has already been done and a date for its opening set.
Such a set up however may not work in Kenyan context due to space constraints.
In the guidelines issued by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe, only four customers are allowed per 10 square metres.
All food handlers are also required to be tested for Covid-19. Restaurants and eateries are also required to be inspected afresh and issued with a special permit for three months.
For Kenya, such an idea may be almost impossible, as Africa Healthcare Federation Chair Dr Amit Thakker noted in a zoom meeting with World Economic Forum. “We already have reduced income and now we have to foot extra costs like testing fees,” he said.
Mediamatic co-founder Willem Velthoven said this venture was one of the most feasible ideas from a large list they had.
“We only had tickets for June and the last week of May online and they are now all sold out,” he said.
The desire to socially connect has also made an establishment in Germany come up with drive-in clubbing.
Club Index, located in Scuttorf in Lower Saxony did host a drive-in night out. Revelers are not allowed to get out of their vehicles, no matter how much they cannot hold their feet to the sound of their favourite music.
In a video shared online, the hungry night out party goers are seen fully dressed in a party mode, some with their faces painted. The most they could do is shake their vehicles to the sound of their favourite music while honking.
Full course
The party was a full course with disco lights flickering all over the arena.
The same concept has been used in church services in both Detroit and northwest Arkansas in the US where the congregation sits in their cars as they listen to their pastor.
“This is unconventional but of course Jesus was also unconventional,” said one worshipper.
When the pastor says: can I get an amen, all the worshippers, just like the party goers in Germany honk in agreement. In Sweden, to ensure the rule on social distancing, the Bord for En restaurant translated to Table for One, has come up with a peculiar way to attract customers.
In this establishment, every client sits on their own table, far from any contact with another person.
The food is delivered through a pulley like system, so no fear that the waiter might be the one to infect you with the virus, or the other way round.
