Performance of 4 local restaurant as to safe pandemic dining:

Restaurants in Switzerland were allowed to reopen on May 11 as the Corona crisis continues to subside. After visiting four restaurants in my home region of Olten, it is time to check how they do in terms of creating a safe space for pandemic dining. In a recent post I outlined how the Corona regime in restaurants could look like. And of course, I was wondering how it is to dine in the Olten region in Corona times.

Eating out during the pandemic

It goes without saying that restaurateurs face a challenging situation in these times. First, they have to deal with losses of income as a consequence of their enforced two-month closure. Second, they had more costs due to Corona measures. And third, fewer guests can be hosted at one time because of social distancing. Notwithstanding that, there is no way around doing everything to get diners back through their doors.

Here are my findings as to how four restaurants in the Olten region

in the Swiss Mittelland have arranged with the requirements of “the new dining out”. I looked at following factors: dining area, ordering, table service, wine service/staff allocation, guest registration and shared items on tables. The four dining-spots I reviewed are (in the order of visiting): Bruecke Niedergoesgen, Zollhaus Olten, National Olten und Terminus Olten.

Dining area

Tables in Swiss restaurants must be spaced two meters apart or separated by partitions by government order. The first restaurant I went to with my husband and friends, Restaurant Bruecke in Niedergoesgen, is in the lucky position to be spacious.

The tables had been generously spaced even before the pandemic. Because of this it was not necessary to make many changes. They have almost as many seats available as in pre-Corona times.

Restaurant Zollhaus in Olten is the only dining-spot where I encountered partitions (partly transparent) between tables.

I cannot claim that it contributes to the room esthetics, but it fulfills the purpose. And it allows the restaurant – with some additional space on the second floor – to host as many guests as usual. This is different at Restaurant National

and Restaurant Terminus

where only every second table is used. While the former introduced fixed-timing dining (either form 6pm to 8pm or later), the latter did not.

Ordering

A good way to make people feel comfortable when it comes to hygiene is the removal of multi-use menus. Two of the restaurants I visited do clearly so, Restaurant Bruecke and Restaurant National. Here you get one disposable paper menu for the table. While you receive two sheets of paper at Restaurant National, one for food and the other for beverages, this is a bit different at Restaurant Bruecke. Here they only do this for the food, in terms of wine you have a choice. You can use the traditional wine list (multi-use) or you can scan a QR code for this purpose. This is really an inventive approach!

As to the other two restaurants (Zollhaus and Terminus)

I could not determine for sure whether the food menus, handed over in paper form to all the diners, are used more than once. The wine list at Restaurant Terminus can be found on the back side of the food menu. Restaurant Zollhaus still let their guests use the “pre-Corona” wine list (plastic folder).

Table service

Nowadays, many diners welcome a service that does not get too close, either when serving or clearing the plates. This can be done by servers wearing face masks or using side tables as some sort of in-between space. Furthermore, it is appropriate in Corona times to minimize staff-guest interaction.

While too much closeness usually is not that problematic if there are only two guests at a table, this is different at tables seating four or more diners. In the former case, you can serve and clear plates from the front. In the latter, this is often neither feasible nor does it comply with the “art of serving” (from the guest’s right side).

And it proved to be a problem once I was seated together with my husband and friends in one of the dining-spots. Staff could not help getting too close when serving and clearing plates. It was different in another place, were our party of four had an isolated table where service from the front was possible. By the way, in none of the four restaurants we visited in these first weeks after the Corona closure the servers wore face masks.

As to reducing unnecessary social contact, I positively noted that Restaurant Bruecke provided additional cutlery on a plate to help yourself. What a thoughtful touch!

Wine service/staff allocation

Another sensible point in this context is pouring wine and other beverages. In Restaurant Bruecke we could choose whether we wanted to this ourselves, which was well received with our party. In Restaurant National, the owner put the bottles on the table and let us know that we could help ourselves to more wine and water. However, in Restaurant Zollhaus, there was no choice. The wine was in a cooler beyond our reach. In Restaurant Terminus, mineral water was on the table for us to pour it ourselves. As to the wine, staff was in charge of serving us although the bottle was close to us.

Yet another critical issue is the allocation of staff. The preferred way would be that only one employee serves the table throughout a guest’s visit to minimize unnecessary staff-diner interaction. While this was more or less the case at Restaurant Bruecke, we got in touch with two persons in all the other dining-spots.

Guest registration

While it is not mandatory in Switzerland to register names of restaurant guests with parties under five, you can do so if you wish. As my husband and I are regulars at all the places visited, we did not volunteer to do so.

Nonetheless, we were pleasantly surprised that the owner at Restaurant National asked us to write down our names and phone numbers using a pen disinfected before our eyes. What an exemplary behavior! In Restaurant Terminus there were a list and a pen on the table to give you the chance to inscribe, well done too!

Shared items on the tables (salt & pepper shakers etc.)

In none of the four dining-spots I visited in these Corona times there were items on the tables that are shared with other guests such as bread baskets, salt and pepper shakers or oil and vinegar bottles. Good job! In terms of bread, I noticed plates with only a few pieces of bread (Bruecke & National) or bread deliberately chosen for every starter on the individual plate at Restaurant Terminus (brioche for the peach burrata starter and dark bread for the octopus starter). At Restaurant Zollhaus, staff still serves small bread rolls with a serving tong from a bread basket.

Conclusion and outlook

Times in the gastronomy have changed, that is for sure. Winds are blowing harder against the restaurateurs, who were not in a very comfortable position even before the Corona crises – in view of narrow margins and an oversupply of restaurants. But establishments which want to remain competitive have to take measures as a consequence of Corona and not only those required by law. Innovative restaurants must stand out from the crowd in terms of creating a safe space for pandemic dining. It does not have to be large-scale actions, but small things can be sufficient. Think about possible needs of concerned diners and offer corresponding solutions to them.

As to the performance of the four visited restaurants in my home region of Olten

I can conclude that they generally do well as to safe dining in Corona times. While there was no ideal case, it became clear that all of them did their home work. Yet there is room for improvement, especially when it comes to avoidance of unnecessary social contacts. In this context I recommend the following. Ask your guests whether they want to serve themselves from beverages. Question your service attitude, better stay safe than serve by the book (above the guest’s right shoulder). Try to allocate only one server per table and evening. And the most important advice as to multi-use items, get rid of those folders for food and beverage menus!

Date of visits: May/June 2020

The post How is it to dine in the Olten region, Switzerland, in Corona times? first appeared on Swiss Traveler