As fine dining restaurateurs, we have always been extremely conscientious about hygiene and food safety practices to protect the sanctity of our food, and the health of our customers, clients, and staff.
However, as we continue to navigate the ever-changing COVID-19 protocols and mandates, many of which have completely shut down colleagues and “competitors,” we are acutely aware that the fine dining industry will be indefinitely affected by the coronavirus.
Here Are 8 Ways Coronavirus Changed The Fine Dining Community
Here are some of the ways we intuit and predict the fine dining industry will be forever changed as we charter new, pandemic-aware, paths into the future.
Never has seasonal farm-to-table food been more important
The very philosophy that led to the creation of restaurants such as SingleThread Farms and our fine dining compatriots is the idea that fresh, local, seasonal, farm-to-table service is essential to bringing the very best flavors, colors, and – yes- even a spiritual appreciation for the foods we introduce into our palate and our bodies.
However, with all of that sumptuous, just-ripe flavor and vibrant color comes food that is optimized in terms of nutrition, not to mention the relationship between sustainable farming and its positive benefits to our environment. You can read more on all of the above in this article posted by the Mayo Clinic about organic foods and how they are safer and more nutritious.
Restaurants worth their salt should always prioritize best-practices for bringing the most healthy, nutritious, and sustainably harvested/grown/raised foods to their tables, and astute consumers will be prioritizing those establishments.
Comfortable outdoor dining options are essential for continuity
We are continually saddened and heartbroken for our fellow restaurant owners who are leasing or operating their businesses out of store-fronts that offer dine-in options only. Who knew that we would ever encounter a scenario where the only option for restaurant owners was to serve “to-go” options (almost unheard of for most fine dining establishments) or to provide meals au fresco? Difficult to do if you were a dinner-only restaurant with indoor-only seating.
Outdoor dining, however, is the only “more-sure thing” these days for those of us who want to offer our customers the ability to be served in a relaxed, comfortable, and luxurious manner. In-door dining has been a fickle reality here in Sonoma County, where the health officer and health department – not to mention the CA governor’s advisors – have waffled about whether indoor dining is permissible or not, and the restrictions that govern it as a potential dining option. If you live in, or are vacationing in a cooler area or during a cooler season, layers will be essential to facilitate comfort in the face of Mother Nature’s whims.
Can you make that multi-course, fine dining dinner To-Go?
As mentioned earlier, enjoying a nicely paced, luxuriously served dinner in an attractive location is all part of the fine dining experience. However, as indoor dining only establishments are acutely aware, Nightly Take Away options are the only options for many, depending on the present coronavirus protocols.
While this may not equate to the luxury experience patrons are used to, we assure you that Take Away food can be just as satisfying as food you eat in-house, when you have the right food gurus at your service. Our chefs and sommeliers have had to do what they do best – put their creative, culinary minds and hearts to work creating absolutely delectable menu options that don’t suffer one iota between our kitchen and yours.
An astute awareness of six-feet (or 72-inches)
Have you ever been as aware in your life of how far six-feet (or 72-inches) actually is? We’re guessing not.
The stringent social distancing space of six-feet or more is likely to transform the way dining rooms are reconfigured and designed around the world. As a restaurant and Inn with three Michelin Stars and an esteemed presence in the Michelin guide, our dining room already accounted for a generous distance between tables in order to afford our guests a relaxed and private atmosphere for their conversation and gastronomical pleasure.
Alas, most restaurants – even fine dining establishments – have not designed their dining rooms and patios with the same attention to space between tables. We predict that gone are the days of packed dining rooms, waiting areas, and what felt like elbow-to-elbow dining with one’s neighbors.
Instead, restaurants will be acutely aware of ensuring there is ample, healthy, social distancing in place from where the tables are placed, the distance between stools at dining bars, and will operate more on a reservation and call-when-you-get-here basis to protect the public from waiting in masse outside or inside the dining establishment.
Bid farewell to the archaic gratuity system
Tips and gratuities have been a restaurant standard, but let us assure that it is a very broken and archaic system when it is not implemented equitably across the staff spectrum. Progressive fine dining restaurants have found ways to make earnings as fair as possible for all of their employees, whether they are the knowledgeable servers who grace your table in person, or they are the dedicated and hardworking dishwashers who keep our shelves stocked so our service remains unfettered by a lack of the correct wine glasses or plateware.
As a result of our coronavirus move into a more touchless society, we see tipping falling by the wayside, encouraging all restaurant owners to build staff gratuities into the menu prices, eliminating what recent Food Network article cited as being, “…a broken, archaic, macho system that can promote bad behavior and rewards only some of the people responsible for the dining experience.”
View your menu and submit orders at your own fingertips
The large majority of fine dining establishments that serve multi-course meals have typically used their menus to inform guests of the day’s presentations, rather than as a typical “pick what you want and order,” format.
However, as we work to eliminate potential contagions as much as possible, restaurants will work to provide menus and food offerings that require the least amount of touch-exchange as possible, including presentations on your own gadget so you can choose from our wine lists or present your dietary restrictions via a screen that already hosts your personal microbiome.
As a testament to the ways SingleThread and fine dining restaurants like ours are moving towards a more hygienic and touch-free model you can visit our COVID-19 Protocols and what to expect when joining us in these extraordinary-made-more-ordinary times.
Survival of the fittest and tastiest
Consumers will benefit from the reality that the restaurants who serve the most delicious, high-quality, creative and exciting foods will prevail. No more will you have to suss out the conflicting reviews on Yelp or Google to decipher which fine dining establishments are worth your time and investment.
Instead, the restaurants who survive the inevitable COVID-19 culling will be the best of the best. This is great news for our patrons who deserve to have the most exceptional dining experience possible when they venture out to a new or favorite establishment.
There is even more ways to be generous
While a restaurant’s bottom line is always a priority, keeping our staff employed and on payroll is essential to our social and emotional health. The top Michelin rated restaurants are finding more ways than ever to keep our staff busy – and paid – as we work to serve those most in need in our community.
We do this by funneling portions of our profits, and generous donations from our community, to fund programs that provide delicious, nutritious meals to our community. For example, SingleThread is currently doing just that by employing our staff and using the contributions of our regular patrons and surrounding community to provide 100+ meals per day that are distributed via our Sonoma Family Meal Program.
One thing is for certain; while the coronavirus changed the fine dining industry forever, we’re absolutely committed to ensuring it has changed us for the better.
californiafinediningandwine.wordpress.com 