As entire cities and countries enter lockdown mode to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the hospitality industry has taken a huge hit. With social distancing and self isolation pretty much mandatory, people can no longer go out for food and drink at their local restaurants. So, what to do? A lot of places are switching to pick-up and delivery, but we’re applauding those innovative restaurants who are going the extra mile – totally reinventing their menu and serving systems.
From cook-it-at-home packs of favourite dishes to curbside dining and unique grocery items to add onto your meal, these restaurants are showing how it’s done. Things are tough right now, but we can all learn a lot from the creativity and survival skills of the businesses below.
Innovative Restaurants Reinventing For The Coronavirus
1. Canlis – Seattle, USA
What they usually do: World-class, fine dining eats. Canlis is Seattle’s top upscale restaurant.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Three new on-site concepts for the main meals of the day: a morning “Bagel Shed”, afternoon “Drive On Thru”, and evening at-home delivery service called “Family Meal.”
2. Guerilla Tacos – Los Angeles, USA
What they usually do: Street-food style Mexican tacos.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: An ‘Emergency Taco Kit’ which comes with a roll of toilet paper! The kit contains 60 tacos at a cost of $2.50 per taco: 5 lbs. roasted chicken, 5 lbs. carne asada, 1 pint each of their house-made red and green salsas, tortillas, onions, cilantro, rice and beans…plus a flat of 30 eggs and 4 rolls of toilet paper!
3. Fresh Tiki Bar – New Jersey, USA
What they usually do: A fresh, colourful smoothie, waffles & juice bar
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Special ‘deconstructed’ smoothie bowls for customers to reassemble themselves at home.
4. Grain Brewery – Norfolk, UK
What they usually do: Craft brewery supplying quality brews to local British pubs.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: A ‘beer drive-thru’! You drive in at one end, place your order and pay using contactless payment or cash, then drive to the next door to pick up your beer.
5. Forest Avenue – Dublin, Ireland
What they usually do: Rustic neighbourhood restaurant with a focus on local, Irish ingredients.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Forest Avenue is now operating as a green grocers from 12-5pm Monday-Saturday, with delivery and collection also available. They’re selling the best of small Irish producers and will also provide a virtual shopping tour also where a member of their team will video call you and shop live for you.
6. Dante – New York City, USA
What they usually do: Award-winning cocktail bar and seasonal Italian restaurant.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: All their signature cocktails to-go, including Negroni on tap! You can also enjoy a “bottle service” menu of various martinis; for $85 you’ll get a batch of 10. Plus, $1 from each cocktail will go to the God’s Love We Deliver, a charity that delivers free meals to people with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses.
7. Corrida – Boulder, Colorado
What they usually do: Stylish, Spanish-inspired steak restaurant.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Perfectly cooked steak, right to your door. If you prefer to cook them at home, their head chef will send an instruction card along with some of his best tips & tricks.
8. Pasjoli – Los Angeles, USA
What they usually do: French bistro with sophisticated and creative dishes.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: ‘Almost-ready-to-eat’ takeout food that comes with simple instructions for diners to add the finishing touches at home. Pasjoli is also selling the iconic ‘off the menu’ Basque cheesecake from sister restaurant Dialogue.
9. 161 Food and Drink – Sydenham, UK
What they usually do: Neighbourhood organic wine shop with artisan cheese and snacks.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: A ‘milk round’ twice per week delivery (free!) of wines and beers via their trusty milk float in South East London. There’s no minimum order, so you can order just one bottle.
10. Creator – San Francisco, USA
What they usually do: This unique burger joint has always been innovative, using robots to make each step of the juicy burger.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Adding a a sealed transfer chamber to isolate restaurant operations from outside air with self-sanitizing takeout-window conveyor.
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11. Wine Hour at Home – Lisbon, Portugal
What they usually do: Technically not a restaurant/bar – this new initiative is from wine ambassador Claudio Martins and Chefs Agency.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: A virtual wine tasting takes place two-three times a week with a top notch wine producer, via Instagram live. See what they’re tasting in advance and order the wine online.
12. Take Me Home Pastas – Coburg, Australia
What they usually do: Fresh pasta and ‘gnoccheria’ outlet.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: As well as their usual range of tasty take-home pasta, lasagna and gnocchi, the Take Me Home Pasta is also helping customers to source bags of flour if they can’t find any at the supermarkets.
13. 112 Crown – New Haven, Connecticut
What they usually do: Trendy cocktail bar and eatery.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Every sandwich comes with a to-go Margarita Noir or Rye Sour, with a cute Date Night picnic pack for pickup and takeout. It comes with a bottle of wine, 4 charcuterie selections and 4 cheeses.
14. Trident Booksellers & Café – Boston, USA
What they usually do: Cosy independent bookstore with a full menu of gourmet daytime bites to eat.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Every delivery order receives a free book! It’s a totally random advance-review copy chosen by staff, but you can make a note of your reading preferences on your online order. There’s also curbside pickup for books, food, board games, and puzzles.
15. Pacific Standard Time – Chicago, USA
What they usually do: Chicago hotspot serving up Californian-inspired food.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Family meals for pick up for $40, feeding four people. The meals rotate daily, from pork chops and mac and cheese, to cheeseburgers and a whole roasted chicken.
16. Otter Craft Distilling – Australia (nationwide delivery)
What they usually do: Small batch Sydney distillery brewing whiskey and vodka.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Free nationwide delivery on their range of vodka, whiskey and make-at-home cocktail kits. Order Espresso Martini kits right to your door…
17. Top Cuvée – London, UK
What they usually do: Popular neighbourhood bistro and wine bar serving exciting dishes.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Top Cuvée to eat at home, with their iconic dishes available for delivery, including some recipe cards so you can re-create what you’ve had again and again.
18. Bar Pesta – Surry Hills, Australia
What they usually do: Asian pasta: From Thai spaghetti, to Vietnamese nui, to Japanese wafu pasta, and more.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Bar Pesta has set up a special contact-free takeaway trolley in front of the restaurant for contactless orders.
19. Legends Beer – Orange County, USA
What they usually do: Microbrewery with tasty eats by local food trucks.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Slide into their Instagram DMs to order craft beers and fried chicken. Pick it up for a contactless feast.
20. HaiSous – Chicago, USA
What they usually do: Legendary Vietnamese restaurant that pushes boundaries.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: HaiSous has closed their locations for safety, but are using their food supply to give packaged meals to local residents and out-of-work hospitality industry employees. *cheers*
21. RethinkFood NYC @ Little Toong Noodle Shop – New York City, USA
What they usually do: A non-profit organization upcycling excess food to distribute meals to underserved communities in NYC.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: They will be taking over closed restaurants to provide food for everyone they can. Rethink will select up to 30 restaurants for the program, and give those selected up to $40,000 to stay up and running to provide takeaway foods.
22. Bujo – Dublin, Ireland
What they usually do: A local and super-sustainable burger joint.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Technology at its finest: they’ve stuck one of their smartphones on their front window; placed another smartphone at their counter and connected them via an always-on Whatsapp video call. Customers can order via this, and staff will bring food to your car.
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23. Pipit – Pottsville, Australia
What they usually do: Contemporary Australian restaurant a menu centred around a charcoal pit.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: The“Pipit Care Package” (produce box & subscription model) a weekly pick up or delivery to share housemade breads, preserves, cured meats, sauces, take-home meals, and unique produce from their suppliers.
24. Scholz Garten – Austin, USA
What they usually do: Traditional German biergarten and restaurant.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Curbside pickup and delivery of its tasty bratwurst and sides, with a live stream of entertainment from inside the biergarten itself. Plus, for every $10 boxed lunch, Scholz will give one boxed lunch to emergency personnel (firefighters, police officers, and medical staff), who order and pick-up curbside.
25. Lina Stores – London, UK
What they usually do: Lina Stores has been making fresh handmade pasta and Italian sauces in London since 1944.
What they’re doing to tackle ‘quarantine cuisine’: Giving back to the community: They have created a donation page to help provide free food for Londoners who desperately need it, including hospitality staff, who have been made redundant, and those in at risk groups. 100% of the funds raised will be spent on supplies and staff to produce the food and we will be providing regular updates with how many people they’ve have fed.
