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First a design firm in Italy proposed creating glass boxes for socially-distanced sunbathing. Now, in a slightly more appealing vision of the future, a restaurant in Amsterdam is to reopen with all its tables set up inside cute, individual greenhouses.
The Mediamatic vegan restaurant and arts complex in the city’s Oosterdok neighbourhood will begin welcoming diners again from May 21. In an effort to maintain social distancing, each group will be now seated within a separate greenhouse on the restaurant’s harbourside terrace.
Groups can be no larger than three people, and must already live together (sorry, no first dates for now). There are plans to use bigger greenhouses for larger households in future. Photos taken during a test run last week make the new set-up look… actually quite idyllic.
Photograph: Willem Velthoven
Photograph: Willem Velthoven
Willem Velthoven, Mediamatic’s founder, told the NL Times: ‘This was one of the most feasible ideas from a large list of ideas we had when brainstorming. We only had tickets for June and the last week of May online and they are now all sold out.’
As distancing initiatives go, this one certainly has romantic cachet. Candlelit dinner right by the River IJ? We envy you, Amsterdam.
More weird stuff from these strange times:
German clubs are hosting socially-distant drive-in raves
A one-person restaurant is opening in a Swedish meadow
People in Iceland are being encouraged to hug trees in lockdown