Dining Out in the Age of Covid

Yesterday, after five days at Alejandro's house, he took me to the apartment that I rent in the  Mexico City neighborhood of Nápoles.  Before he went back home, we went out for dinner together.  We went to a place near the apartment called "Fondue Haus Zermatt".  Fondue is their specialty but, beyond that, and in spite of the name, the menu, with a selection of pizzas and pasta dishes, is more Italian than Swiss.  Their food is quite good, and we have eaten there a number of times.

I have said before that during this pandemic I feel more comfortable dining at a restaurant here in Mexico City than I do back in Ohio.  One obvious reason is that here the majority of places have outdoor seating or areas by open windows.  In Ohio, the weather does not permit that all year long.  Also, all of the servers in every restaurant where I have eaten are properly masked.  That is frequently not the case in Ohio.

The "Fondue Haus" has a large laminated menu attached to each table top.  Part of the menu details all the steps that they have taken to ensure the safety of their customers.

"All of our personnel comply with the following rules:

Upon arrival at the establishment personnel change from street clothing to clean work clothing in a place separate from the areas of food preparation.

Our personnel's temperature is taken twice a day, upon their arrival and halfway through their shift.

We use new facemasks each day; the staff is trained in their correct use.

In areas where it is required, the personnel wear face shields or protective goggles.

Hands are washed or sanitized every fifteen minutes or sooner if required."

Another paragraph goes on to describe other steps that they have taken: sanitizing kitchen surfaces every fifteen minutes, frequent sanitizing of restrooms and door handles, operating at 30% capacity in order to maintain safe distances, eliminating conventional menus, suspending temporarily the salad bar, and deep cleaning the entire restaurant each morning before opening.

Perhaps, not every restaurant goes to the same lengths, but most of these measures are required by the government.  You can see why I feel more at ease dining out here than I do back home.