Eat outdoors to avoid COVID?Some restaurant options are safer than others: Shot

With the arrival of winter and the full-scale outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, the food service industry is — — Be expected lose Over $ 230 billion in 2020 — — Sticks to techniques for maintaining an outdoor diet, even in the cold and whimsical conditions of winter in the United States.

Pao, greenhouse, igloo, tent, and all sorts of partially open Outdoor buildings are appearing in restaurants all over the country. Owners are looking at these as lifelines that help fill some tables, at least by offering the potential for a safer dining experience.

“We are trying to do everything we can to extend the outdoor dining season as long as possible,” he says. Mike Watley With the National Restaurant Association.

The dire times forced the industry to find a way to survive. More than 100,000 restaurants are “totally closed or not open at any scale,” Watley said.Recently Research According to his organization, the number of restaurants serving outdoor meals dropped from 74% in early September to 52% in late November.

“It will be a tough and harsh winter,” says Whatley. “If we find it impossible to eat outdoors, either in terms of cold weather or, unfortunately, in terms of government regulation, we will see more businesses going out of business.”

In recent months, many cities and states have Limit raft Given the high risk of spreading the virus in these crowded environments, it’s best to eat indoors.

There is an upper limit on the occupancy rate of restaurants where many people eat.Some have completely stopped eating indoors, including: Michigan And Illinois.. Others go even further. Angels And Baltimore Stopped eating indoors and outdoors. You can only take it out.

People who can serve customers outdoors, on the patio, or on the sidewalk have come up with creative adaptations that allow them to dine in the depths of the frigid winter.

Encourage diner and server to accept “utility”

Washington closed its indoor dining room in mid-November and maintains the ban as coronavirus cases continue to surge.

Seattle fine dining server on a ferocious December night Kanris Gather in the parking lot, wearing flannel and a puffy vest, and boss Mark Canris chats before a busy night.

“The hospitality here is exactly what it is,” says Kanris, gesturing at his restaurant overlooking Lake Union. “But it looks really different, so invite them to the” filth “of what we are doing. “

Kanris built an elaborate yurt village in the parking lot next to the family’s renowned restaurant.

There is an outdoor fireplace and a winding wooden panel walkway between a small pine tree and a circular tent... A collection of yurts with open window flaps is the Canlis family’s best effort to keep luxury dining alive during the pandemic and usually long, rainy Seattle winters (Mention Locally as “Big Dark”. )

Upon arrival, guests will be warmed with a forehead thermometer and will be provided with a glass of hot cider.

“It gives us an excuse to think differently,” Canlis says of outdoor dietary restrictions.

The yurt not only protects the diet from elements, but also from infectious airborne particles that can spread to various guest tables.

Eating in such a building is not without risk. Guests can sit for long periods of time without wearing a mask, allowing them to catch the virus from their dietary companions. However, Canlis says there is no easy way to determine if all members of a dining group are from the same household.

“I’m neither the governor nor the CDC,” he says. “If you’re at the table, you’re in your hands.”

There is new ruleFor an outdoor dining structure in Washington, created during a pandemic, Kanris had to consider issues such as how to properly ventilate yurts and disinfect expensive furniture.

“How much is the square inch of the yurt’s volume space? What is the size of the doors and windows? How long does it take for the yurt to” breathe “? “Canris says.

The structure will be clean after each dining party finishes the meal and leaves; During the meal service, waiters wear N95 masks to get in and out quickly.

Igloos, domes, tents: how safe are they?

Another, more modern-looking outdoor dining has a transparent “igloo” and other dome-like structures that are popular with restaurant owners across the country.

Tim Baker, who runs an Italian restaurant San Fermo In Seattle, I had to order an igloo from Lithuania and assemble it by hand with the help of my son.

His restaurant policy is that only two people can enter the igloo at a time to reduce the risk of people from different households gathering.

“You are completely surrounded by someone in your own family and your own space. These domes protect you from everyone walking on the sidewalk, and the server does not enter with you. “He says.

Baker says he consulted with an airflow expert and decided to use an industrial hot-air cannon after each diner party left the igloo and before the next set came in.

“Fireing this cannon pushes the air very aggressively,” Baker says.

The igloo in his restaurant is a big attraction.

“I’m particularly proud of whatever we can do to excite people now because we need it,” he says. “We are all emotionally crushed by this.”

Says not all outdoor dining structures are created the same Richard Corsi, Portland State University Air Quality Expert and Dean of Engineering.

“We have a wide spectrum,” says Corsi. “The safest thing we’re talking about is the lack of walls, the roof, and in the worst case it’s completely enclosed. It’s essentially an indoor tent, especially with less ventilation and physical distance. If it’s not good, then it is. “

In fact, according to Corsi, some outdoor dining structures that are surrounded and have tables nearby are more dangerous than indoors due to poor ventilation.

A truly outdoor meal, with no temporary shelter, is much safer because of “faster air speeds, more dispersion, more mixing than indoors”. That is, when the virus-carrying respiratory droplets do not accumulate and people are close to each other, their concentration is low.

“With a heater, you actually get pretty good ventilation. When you heat it, the air rises and cools in,” says Corsi.

He states that private “pods” or “domes” can be fairly safe if properly ventilated and cleaned between meals. It also assumes that everyone who eats in the building lives together, so they are already exposed to each other’s bacteria.

But Korsi says he hasn’t gone out for a meal yet with one of many new outdoor dining pieces.

This story comes from the NPR Health Reporting Partnership Kaiser Health News.