Lockdown Diary Part 7 – Baby Steps – Our First Restaurant Visit

It’s been a long, strange and bizarre seven months. First, there was fear and paranoia. Then acceptance, adjustment and making the best of the situation i.e. learning how to manage everything from work and workouts to socialising and shopping online. Life DC (During Covid-19) last month saw us take small steps towards life BC (Before Covid-19) in the form of a drink and dinner at a friend’s home (just the 2 of us and our two hosts instead of the usual 12!), a cautious visit to my long-standing fruit vendor at Crawford Market, of course, Shah Wines to buy life-sustaining, boredom-dispelling, insomnia-curing alcohol and weekend takeaways from our favourite restaurants.

Then, after a long wait, the Maharashtra Government allowed restaurants and bars to reopen for dining. The SOPs were detailed and excessive, and for the first few days, there was much confusion. Rules or SOPs seemed to be in a state of flux. From 50% diners to 30%. From 10.30 pm deadline to 7.30 pm and then to 11.30 pm. It took a few days to figure out what was really permitted.

While the government was chopping and changing rules, we had a zoom chat with a few friends including the head chef at one of the ITC restaurants. He told us of all the hygiene and safety measures being put in place and, frankly, he had us in splits. Foodservice on a bat! No-touch QR code menus! Open your own pack of wafers! No fingerbowl! Movable partitions! The list was endless.

We wondered what would be ‘safe’ behaviour when we went to a restaurant or bar. Could I, for instance, get ice in my drink or should I stick to cold bottled water? What if someone who was infected had touched the ice or heaven forbid coughed near the ice? Mr Stonethrower was untroubled as beer, his favourite tipple, came sealed and required nothing more than a bottle opener to render drinkable. Also, since we are very friendly with the waitstaff in most of our favourite restaurants we wondered if we would need to quickly put on our masks if one of them stopped by while we were eating. Also, what was the correct time to remove masks? And what about restrooms? By the end of the call, we were all laughing out loud when another friend put together a to-pack list for restaurant visits which included amongst other things, sanitizers, gloves, ice-pails, bottled water and most importantly, adult diapers, as restrooms were the biggest source of infection.

Finally, it seemed we could come out if you know what I mean. Restaurants did reopen for in-house dining and despite our initial reluctance, we made a reservation at our favourite Peshawri at the ITC Grand Maratha. A reservation was also made at the Bombay High Bar for a few pre-dinner intoxicants.

Truth be told, it was fairly exciting to dress up for dinner. The last seven months have been restricted to Pali Market, FoodHall, Crawford Market, occasional visits to my parents’ home and driving to restaurants to pick up food, hardly any reason to dress up. A confession here, we have never used any of the food delivery apps and do not ever order food to be delivered home. In the rare instance where we get food from restaurants, we go personally and pick up the food. Yes, I realise that’s not normal but that’s the way it is with us.

Anyway, all dressed up, we arrived at the ITC. Our car was sprayed with some disinfectant at the gate and then we were put through the expected temperature check and body scan by staff wearing gloves, masks and face shields before we were allowed to enter. All very polite and courteous.

The lobby was almost deserted with none of the hustle and bustle we saw BC. Inside, the coffee shop was forlorn with just one table occupied and we worriedly made our way to the bar. Huge sigh of relief, there were five guests in the bar. Please note the use of ‘in the bar’ rather than ‘at the bar’ as in this new now normal, guests are not allowed to sit at the bar, but have to sit at socially distanced tables. We were escorted to our table by a bartender wearing gloves a mask and a face shield. Once we had placed our drink order we thought it was safe to remove our masks.

Along with our drinks, a tray was placed at our table with two single-serve packets of crisps, two glass bowls and oddly a spoon and fork in a paper bag. It was like being in a British Pub where you open your own packet of crisps! Only we weren’t in a British Pub, we were at a fancy bar in a five-starred hotel. New normal? Taking the easy way out? Lack of imagination? You decide.

After a few refreshing drinks, we made our way to Peshawri for dinner, but not before the customary restroom stop. The ladies’ restroom was deserted and except for a prominently displayed bottle of sanitizer didn’t look any different to me. The men’s restroom which Mr Stonethrower took a few pictures of was equally deserted. To enforce social distancing, alternate urinals had been blocked off as had the washbasins. Not particularly worrying and definitely no need for adult diapers here. However, if you go to a smaller restaurant or pub with a single urinal or toilet, I would check how often they are being sanitized, if at all! Single toilets in small restaurants are clearly a danger and in adult diaper territory.

Peshawri, which we have been to maybe 50 times was different, to say the least. All crockery and cutlery in (assumedly) sterile paper bags. You take out your plate, your glass, your napkin, etc and place the discarded paper in a glass fishbowl that is placed in the centre of your table. Each table has a glass and wood partition next to it which reminded us of those Irani restaurants with a ‘family room’ where young couples used to hide away from prying eyes. Once we were seated, we couldn’t see the rest of the restaurant and nobody could see us! Which kind of takes away from the idea of social dining and seemed a little OTT, but I guess ITC is erring on the side of caution. What I cannot understand is why the good folks at ITC made these screens opaque? Surely a clear glass screen would do the job as well, and not leave you feeling boxed in.

On the table was a placard with a no-touch, scannable menu but thankfully we have been here often enough to know what we wanted to order. Scannable menu – great idea but seriously not very user friendly. And to make it worse, Peshawri has fairly poor network coverage. Also, if people who aren’t particularly tech-savvy come to dine and the waitstaff has to guide them through the process I think the purpose is defeated. Again, I know this is all as mandated by our government, but I just don’t know how it will work.

Then came the fun part. Your food comes to you at the end of a long wooden bat/paddle which the poor server carries gingerly into your little enclosed cubicle trying desperately not to let the bat/paddle wobble or tilt or god forbid hit someone or even worse, drop the dishes. This contraption is lowered to your level and you are expected to lift the dishes off it and place them onto your table. All very confusing and awkward. Don’t drink too much and keep a steady hand or you will have kebabs on your lap. Once again, I wonder how our 1G (senior citizens) will manage this.

Having accomplished this, we concentrated on the food. And honestly, all the absurdities and OTT protocols faded into insignificance because the food was just so so good. We have done takeaways from Pesahwri a few times in the last couple of months, but to get a platter of kebabs and a paratha hot from the tandoor is another world altogether. No amount of careful reheating or following detailed instruction can match that.

Dinner done, our next struggle was cleaning our fingers. In the new world order, fingerbowls are apparently a no-no. Tiny, and I mean seriously minuscule wet wipes appeared, which as you can imagine are difficult to tear open with kebab stained fingers. Again, if the waitstaff helps you with this, the purpose is defeated, so struggle we did, till the tiny square revealed itself. And apologies for the repetition – I get the logic but it all seems a bit much! Surely you can be careful without being absurd.

With all this no-touch I don’t know how they accepted a credit card at the end of the meal. And what if we had paid cash? Surely some touch-free/online payment system should have been put in place. Just saying!!

All rather surreal. But its early days and everyone is finding their feet. Should you go out to dine? Categorical, unhesitating – Of course. If for nothing else to keep the sector afloat and the livelihoods of waiters, cooks and helpers somewhat intact. As long as you and the restaurant follow good hygiene, Covid-19 safety protocols and social distancing measures you should be as safe as is possible in this uncertain new world. What and how much of these measures are important is a personal decision. For some, the ITC measures may be perfect. Personally, I thought they were excessive. It seemed like they were trying to tick every possible box and I do not know if that is sustainable.
Having said that, I will continue to go back to the ITC or the Taj or other 5 Star hotel or upmarket standalone restaurants because I am still not comfortable visiting a small restaurant or pub with a single toilet.

And once again, what struck me at the end of the evening is how much this pandemic has hurt our 1G/senior citizens. Everything now runs on some sort of technology, be it smartphones, apps, scanning of QR codes and so on. Consequently, and unfortunately, our senior citizens are in a rather unhappy place and will grow more dependent on us. To end where I started my last blog, Covid-19 has been a bad time for 1G.