What will the ‘new normal’ look like for restaurants?

Writer: Hedda Mittner.

Restaurant owners and their staff members are waiting with bated breath for detailed guidelines from the government on when and how they will be able to reopen.

This following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement last week that not only sit-down restaurants, but also casinos, cinemas and theatres, accredited and licensed accommodation (with the specific exception of "home-sharing accommodation like Airbnb"), conferences and meetings for business purposes (with limitations on the number of people), personal care services and non-contact sports will now be allowed to resume.

At the time of going to print on Monday afternoon, however, these businesses were still waiting for clarity and the only regulations that had been gazetted were those pertaining to personal care services (read more on P12).

Several local restaurateurs said the announcement had been so vague that they were unsure about how to plan for reopening. Some of the uncertainties included the issue of social distancing. “Will spacing tables 1.5m apart be adequate or do we need to put up partitions between tables?” was one of Anton Verhoogt of Fisherman’s Cottage’s questions.

Click below to read more. (The full article can be found on page 4)