The COVID-19 crisis has led to major structural and operational changes for the restaurant industry, from the implementation of new health standards to adaptation of new customer expectations. Here are 100 ideas to allow independent restaurateurs and hotel owners to meet these challenges.
Part I. Back of house
Kitchen
- Train employees and display new sanitary measures in the kitchen
- Buy local products and communicate with the customers
- Control products traceability
- Reduce food waste with Kitro AI-based food waste management solution
- Set quantifiable targets for reducing food waste
- Wearing a mask for cooks (linen mask for more comfort) and all other employees until the obligation is lifted
- Ensure regular hand washing with a timer
- Review the goods reception protocol (floor marking) and prohibit anyone from outside to enter into the kitchen (supplier/delivery person, etc.)
- Remove packaging before storage or disinfect what cannot be unpacked
- Wash all products coming into the kitchen (for fresh food, do not wash them with a cleaning product, but leave them 24hr in the fridge before their use)
- Reconditioning of all goods received in cleaned containers (plastic or stainless steel) before storage
Management and adaptation of the business model
- Stay informed of the latest state support measures (example: State guaranteed bank loans) and regulations
- Stay informed about the support measures for your region and your city (example: exemption from certain taxes, including the public domain occupancy charges for terraces and stands) and local regulations
- Find out about partial unemployment measures and their duration
- Ensure the permanent supply of consumables items (hydro-alcoholic gel, wipes, soaps, gloves, masks, trash bags, etc.)
- Establish a partnership with bicycle delivery companies
- Offer takeaway meals to compensate for the decrease in seating
- Display the takeaway menu outside the restaurant and on the restaurant's website
- Ecological and quality packaging for takeaway and delivery dishes (adapt the meals so that they are easily transportable and keep good quality once delivered)
- Offer tutorials on the internet to explain how to reheat the food
- Provide takeaway meals at collection points at local shops (click and collect model)
- Offer homemade derivative products, for example, delicatessen
- Offer baskets of (organic) products with a recipe (to be cooked online afterwards with the chef)
- Offer picnic baskets
- Create vouchers payable in advance for loyal customers who want to support the restaurant
- Reduce the menu offer to avoid losses and implement daily specials
- Prioritize seasonal products
- Partner with local producers
Sanitary / Cleaning
- Establish and display a restaurant cleaning/disinfection plan, visible to customers to reassure them
- Materialize by marking on the ground or any other ways, the distance of at least 1 to 2 meters between clients and employees
- Remove the waste regularly
- Use bins with lid and pedal
- Check more often and regularly the cleaning of the toilets
- Permanently check the presence of soaps and paper hand drying napkins (unplug air dryers)
- Adapt the ventilation/air circulation system to new sanitary standards. Contact professionals for appropriate advice
- Train all employees in new sanitary procedures (update the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, also called HACCP, if necessary). Control and retrain
- Establish a health chart to follow and involve employees in its establishment (letter to sign)
- Mention Safety and Health clause in the new employee contracts
- Apply the ‘job advice posters’ of your Ministry of Labor (often available on the internet)
- Organize meals for staff on a different schedule
- Avoid personal items (cellular phone, bags, etc.) in the restaurant and the kitchen
- Wash uniforms on-site preferably or make sure the uniforms are washed at 60 degrees and transport in a closed packaging
- Define the number of people who can have lunch together and leave only the amount of chairs needed
- Mark the chair location on the ground
- Clean the employee room (surfaces or equipment in contact with the hands) after each break
- Pedal taps in the toilets and at the bar
- Swing doors or automatic door opening (including bathrooms)
- Prefer furniture made of aluminium, steel, sky or any material that can be easily disinfected
- Prefer tables and bar tables with a rapidly disinfectable surface
Part 2. Front of house
- Give priority on reservations to avoid unforeseen groups
- Have an online reservation system
- Have a pre-order system via mobile app or restaurant website
- Extend hours of operation and service
- Give priority to outdoor spaces and have signs and floor markings. Control the flow of clients to avoid overcrowding (safety first, but it is also part of your reputation too)
- Implement an uninterrupted service and spread out customer arrivals
- Have a hydroalcoholic gel dispenser available at the restaurant entrance, on the tables and at the toilet entrance (adapt this measure to the type of establishment, for example upper-luxury hotels will prefer more personalized options)
- Provide a mask to your customers if needed
- Take the temperature of customers upon arrival
- Establish a unique and logical flow of circulation in the restaurant to prevent people from crossing paths
- Provide a cloakroom at the entrance and avoid coats in the restaurant
- Take customer contact details to ensure contamination tracking/traceability if necessary
- Use the COVID-19 tracing applications but consider the right of privacy of each individual
- Respect the distance between tables
- Install customers in staggered rows on rectangular tables
- Place individual disinfectant wipes on the tables
- Install a screen between tables when social distancing is not possible
- Install a plexiglass display case in front of the bar
- Eliminate unnecessary items on the tables
- Invite the customer to download the menu to their mobile phone using a QR code
- Display the menu on a blackboard or overhead projection on the wall
- Display the drinks menu behind the bar
- Display the bottles of wine/alcohol on a wine list
- Post the origin of the products and goods to inform the customers
- Eliminate dressing items on tables or have individual portions of salt and pepper
- Avoid aperitifs (e.g., chips, peanuts) to share on the table
- Wearing of the gloves according to the type of service while being very vigilant about regular hands disinfection
- Place drinks on the table and let the customers refill their glasses
- Serve individual bread in a paper bag or on request
- Place the cutlery wrapped in a napkin or in a paper envelop
- Protect cheese and dessert carts with plexiglass windows
- Take orders on an electronic device with instant impression in the kitchen and at the bar
- Have a light signal when the toilets are occupied to avoid too much traffic in the restaurant
- Send the bill via a mobile application directly to the customer's phone
- Add to the electronic bill an online customer satisfaction questionnaire (including hygiene to improve) to be returned by the customer within 24 hours, and act on it
- Prefer contactless payment and disinfect the bank card machine after each use
- For hotels, develop the room service offer
- Target/broaden your clientele base to local customers
- Offer plate service only
- Prioritize the portions on a plate and individual portions on the buffet (if buffets are allowed)
- Develop Show Cooking and Live Station to maintain a buffet and avoid the touch/contact with customers. Install plexiglass screens and sneeze guards to protect the food from customer
- Carry out feedback and share experiences of the uncertainties of the day to adapt the procedures and measures initially planned
- Be present and active on social media and update the website to inform customers on the hygiene and sanitary measures taken in relation to COVID-19 (have an Instagram page, post stories and photos…)
- Work with e-reputation and digital communication agencies or train an employee
- Know and contact influencers on social media to develop local customers and compensate for the loss of international clientele
- Have proactive communication: newsletters and emails sent to customers to reassure them and encourage them to come safely to the establishment
Creative ideas out of the box
- Write the servers’ first name on their masks
- Draw a smile on the waiters’ mask
- Concept PLEX’EAT from Christophe Gernigon
- Film the kitchen and project live on a screen in the restaurant
- Have an open kitchen to the room or glazed
Thank you to the Food & Beverage professionals who shared their vision with us:
- Morad El Hajjaji, Restaurant INDA-BAR, Geneva, Switzerland
- Patrick Ogheard, Associate Dean, Practical Arts, École hôtelière de Lausanne