How Food Chains And Restaurants Are Preparing To Open Once They Receive Permissions
Seeing his entire family run the restaurant business, the Managing Director of Little ItalyJuhu (second restaurant in Mumbai to introduce Italian cuisine) - AbhiUmesh Mehta was introduced to the world of the hospitality industry at an early age. He has witnessed the growth and innovation put in the restaurant by his family which inspired him to bring in new concepts on the table. His primary focus has always been on bringing in variety and newness to the dishes and cuisines in the vegetarian space.
Dining out as a concept has changed overnight with the onslaught of the pandemic. The ease with which people just used to walk in to their favourite restaurant or try out a new place has dissolved into thin air. The good old days required no `guidelines' or `norms' that they had to follow, except basic dining rules of course. What then, does re-opening look like for the customers and the restaurant industry at large?
People are suddenly clueless and rightfully concerned about stepping back into restaurants and malls, as the pandemic doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. There isn't a lot of clarity out there when it comes to what precautions and what standard practices have to be followed. At a time like this, it is more crucial than ever to ensure restaurant owners not only follow stringent processes, but also communicate effectively all the steps they are taking to ensure the safety of their customers. Restaurateurs now are looking at new business models and learning to adapt to new ways of doing things. Everyone in the business environment has to become more vigilant, agile, and has to learn to be more sensitive to the consumer as well as employee needs.
First and foremost, what's going to take the most precedence is setting SOPs and standard do's and don't's which has to be religiously communicated to the staff. Compliance will be key and safety protocols will have to become second nature. Cleanliness and hygiene in the outlets, kitchens, deliveries, takeaways, as well as restaurants in general will have to be maintained strictly.
Secondly, contactless dining has to become ingrained in our DNA. At times like this, human interaction has to take a backseat and restaurants have to have their tech game at top notch levels to ensure a seamless yet safe dining experience for their customers. The dining process, from digital menus ruling the roster, which will have to be scanned by diners on their devices to contactless, online payments at the end of the meal before the customers leave, the entire end-to-end process has to become digital. Restaurants can have their menus on their websites for the diners' preference and provide QR codes digitally to them for scanning, even while seated at the restaurant. Service styles are going to see a monumental change as well since everything will be ordered or pre-ordered digitally and the personalized service experience would be minimized since the server would only approach the diners to place their food on the tables, once the food is ready to be served.
With guest service at its core, the Indian restaurant industry is also going to massively pivot the personalized guest experience. Smiles will be hidden by masks, and instead of being handed menus, visitors will now be greeted with sanitizers. In such situations, restaurants will have to manage customer expectations when it comes to safety and standards, while ensuring a comfortable and seamless dining experience.
Additionally, social distancing within the restaurant will have to stringently be followed if the industry is to even reconsider a long term game. We're already seeing examples of restaurants in Europe enforcing social distancing norms through see-through glass screens even on the same tables, let along neighbouring ones! While that may or may not happen in India, we've already seen the trend before in restaurants. Little Italy Juhu, for example, earlier has individual restaurant booths for dining, which used to be visible to the diners present in the outside areas as well. We foresee this trend to resurface again, as instead of making sections, restaurants could look at making individual booths at the tables already present, also leading to a higher seating capacity and not compromise on restaurant space.
Dining out as a concept has changed overnight with the onslaught of the pandemic. The ease with which people just used to walk in to their favourite restaurant or try out a new place has dissolved into thin air. The good old days required no `guidelines' or `norms' that they had to follow, except basic dining rules of course. What then, does re-opening look like for the customers and the restaurant industry at large?
People are suddenly clueless and rightfully concerned about stepping back into restaurants and malls, as the pandemic doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. There isn't a lot of clarity out there when it comes to what precautions and what standard practices have to be followed. At a time like this, it is more crucial than ever to ensure restaurant owners not only follow stringent processes, but also communicate effectively all the steps they are taking to ensure the safety of their customers. Restaurateurs now are looking at new business models and learning to adapt to new ways of doing things. Everyone in the business environment has to become more vigilant, agile, and has to learn to be more sensitive to the consumer as well as employee needs.
First and foremost, what's going to take the most precedence is setting SOPs and standard do's and don't's which has to be religiously communicated to the staff. Compliance will be key and safety protocols will have to become second nature. Cleanliness and hygiene in the outlets, kitchens, deliveries, takeaways, as well as restaurants in general will have to be maintained strictly.
First and foremost, what's going to take the most precedence is setting SOPs and standard do's and don't's which has to be religiously communicated to the staff
Secondly, contactless dining has to become ingrained in our DNA. At times like this, human interaction has to take a backseat and restaurants have to have their tech game at top notch levels to ensure a seamless yet safe dining experience for their customers. The dining process, from digital menus ruling the roster, which will have to be scanned by diners on their devices to contactless, online payments at the end of the meal before the customers leave, the entire end-to-end process has to become digital. Restaurants can have their menus on their websites for the diners' preference and provide QR codes digitally to them for scanning, even while seated at the restaurant. Service styles are going to see a monumental change as well since everything will be ordered or pre-ordered digitally and the personalized service experience would be minimized since the server would only approach the diners to place their food on the tables, once the food is ready to be served.
With guest service at its core, the Indian restaurant industry is also going to massively pivot the personalized guest experience. Smiles will be hidden by masks, and instead of being handed menus, visitors will now be greeted with sanitizers. In such situations, restaurants will have to manage customer expectations when it comes to safety and standards, while ensuring a comfortable and seamless dining experience.
Additionally, social distancing within the restaurant will have to stringently be followed if the industry is to even reconsider a long term game. We're already seeing examples of restaurants in Europe enforcing social distancing norms through see-through glass screens even on the same tables, let along neighbouring ones! While that may or may not happen in India, we've already seen the trend before in restaurants. Little Italy Juhu, for example, earlier has individual restaurant booths for dining, which used to be visible to the diners present in the outside areas as well. We foresee this trend to resurface again, as instead of making sections, restaurants could look at making individual booths at the tables already present, also leading to a higher seating capacity and not compromise on restaurant space.
