Virginia restaurant to reopen using mannequins as dining room guests

Source: The Hill | May 15, 2020 | Alexandra Kelley

The Inn at Little Washington, an award-winning eatery, found a novel way to enforce social distancing among customers.

One of the country’s most renowned restaurants is doing something unusual to help its customers practice social distancing as it prepares to reopen later this month.

The Inn at Little Washington, located in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains about 90 minutes west of Washington, D.C., is sitting mannequins dressed in old-fashioned attire at dining room tables, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

…….

Nonessential business restrictions are set to ease in select parts of Virginia on Friday. Restaurants, however, will only be able to serve customers food in an outdoor space, so The Inn intends to wait until May 29 to reopen indoor dining services, according to AP. 

The mannequins, which were theatrically staged Thursday, are part of the restaurant’s strategy to help customers abide by the required social distancing guidelines. By filling seats, the restaurant staff hopes to better control the amount of contact between customers and thereby reduce the chance of coronavirus transmission.

“When we needed to solve the problem of social distancing and reducing our restaurant’s occupancy by half, the solution seemed obvious — fill it with interestingly dressed dummies,” chef and proprietor Patrick O’Connell said. “This would allow plenty of space between real guests and elicit a few smiles and provide some fun photo ops.”

………

Tagged: , ,

Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.