On-premise dining is going to look and feel a lot different as restaurants start to reopen under the coronavirus pandemic, from the waitstaff wearing masks and gloves to the constant cleaning and disinfection that has to take place to the reduced capacity to allow for social distancing.
The social distancing may be the hardest thing to get used to—who wants to eat in a nearly empty restaurant? The whole point of going out of your house for a meal or drink is to be social.
One posh restaurant in Washington D.C. has reportedly come up with a novel concept to make the dining room seem less dead: mannequins. The Michelin-starred Inn at Little Washington will use life-size mannequins dressed in 1940s-themed outfits to help fill the room when it reopens later this month.
According to The Washingtonian, waitstaff will even interact with the mannequins, including filling their wine glasses and inquiring about their evening. We’re not sure if this is going to be cool or creepy for guests. (One comment on the Inn’s Instagram notes: “This is a horror film waiting to be made.”) Still, we applaud the Inn at Little Washington’s ingenuity and wish them well on the reopening.