Great Weather For Outside Dining, But Inside Doors Are Open

CONNECTICUT — It's been no mean feat for restaurateurs to prepare for indoor dining, which begins Wednesday in Connecticut as part of the Phase 2 reopening. While outdoor dining was part of the May 20 Phase 1 reopening, indoor dining is a lot trickier.

Owners must be sure to complete a thorough cleaning of the entire restaurant including, but not limited to all dining, kitchen, bathroom, and seating areas, and any commonly touched surfaces, plan for entry and exits that allows for one-way foot traffic, increase ventilation rates and increase the percentage of outdoor air that circulates into the system where possible, and close waiting areas.

Restaurants were also required to rearrange space to maintain at least 6 feet of empty space between customers groups and if they are seated less than 6 feet apart, dining capacity is limited to no more than 50 percent of the occupancy, Plexiglas or similar partition is required, visual social distancing markers must be visible, a log of employees on-premise over time must be maintained to support contact tracing, and shifts must be staggered.

Businesses were strongly encouraged to use no-touch or disposable options for menus, have single use packets or containers of condiments, kitchen workstations had to be re-arranged so that food workers do not face one another and are 6 feet apart, utensils should be rolled or packaged, touch-less soap and paper towel dispensers needed to be installed, as well as using contactless payments, servers should serve specific zones in the restaurant to minimize overlap, and owners must ensure employees do not share equipment to the extent possible. And the cleaning. Lots of disinfecting and sanitizing.

And that is not even the full list of guidelines before a restaurant can complete its self-certification to in order get its Reopen CT badge.

Still, many are ready to welcome diners Wednesday.

The Art of Yum in Waterbury

In April, restaurant The Art of Yum in Waterbury delivered hundreds of meals for Waterbury Hospital workers, part of Arrington’s “Project Break Room” to help nourish front-line heath care workers.

The popular eatery is co-owned by chefs Donte Jones, James Thompson and Michone Arrington.

And in May, the restaurant teamed up with Lifting Life Youth Council and prepared 100 free soul food meals that were given to residents at Long Hill Projects.

And these efforts to support the community during the pandemic were accomplished while trying to maintain normalcy as the restaurant continued to serve customers through take out.

The Black-owned restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner, and also has a food truck and provides personal chef services.

Excited about the reopening, The Art of Yum however has chosen Father's Day, Sunday June 21, as its opening day for indoor dining and has a special menu in place for the holiday. Reservations are required.

Café Fiore in Branford

The staff at Café Fiore in Branford are, “ready and prepared for indoor dining,” owner Valon Avdimetaj told Patch.

Overall, he’s feeling “very confident” people will come to his restaurant.

He said that in the days since outdoor dining has been open, customers told him that they were looking forward to dining inside.

“I’m very confident that people will come in for indoor dining,” he said. “During outdoor dining, customers and staff have been very careful. We have prepared and prepared for (indoor seating) and (though) it’s the customers choice, I’m very confident that they’ll choose to dine in.”

See also: Reopening CT: Here's What's Opened, Closed Or Modified In Phase 2

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