Two months after restaurants and eating joints were closed due to the Covid- 19 lockdown on March 22, home delivery and take away services were finally resumed earlier this week after the district administration gave a nod to start these services on May 22.
Though getting off to a slow start in the first week after a 60- day break, owners are hoping for a more positive response from foodies in times to come. Keeping the customers safety as a top priority, eateries have also opted to send their own staff to deliver food apart from tying up with food delivery apps.
Mocha in Lalpur is presently working with a limited team and a selected menu. To avoid any third party involvement, the members of the staff are delivering the food. This is also ensuring that the food is being handled by as less people as possible.
“The response is not what it used to be. However, people are keen to order and take a break from cooking. Once dine- in facility starts, we also plan to introduce electronic menu cards which the customer can access on their phones itself and cashless interactions will be encouraged. Temperature checks at frequent intervals along with wearing gloves, face masks and caps has been mandatory for the staff. All norms for sanitation are also being strictly followed,” said Restaurant Manager Pritish Shahdeo.
One of the oldest and most popular eating joint of the City- Kaveri has also started home delivery service in the current situation.
“Earlier we never had an option of delivering food but owing to the pandemic this has been introduced. People can also place an order with us through food delivery apps but customers prefer that it is delivered by our staff only. Initially we started with a limited menu but have now switched to the whole of it. All food containers are packed using pressed packing method,” said Kunwar Bhatia, owner of Kaveri Restaurant and Capitol Hotels.
“Home delivery services were started from May 25. The response has not been very great as compared to what it used to be before the outbreak of the virus. It could also be because we close operations after 7 pm as per the guidelines and do not cater to dinner services. We are trying to procure vegetables in less quantity as we don’t want to store them and use only fresh ingredients. They are also being soaked in salt water for some time before being used,” said Shashank Dharnidharka, Partner, The Urban Brava.
Once full- fledged services start, the restaurant intends to reduce its seating capacity to ensure social distancing between tables. Thermal screening of guests will also be done as a precautionary measure.
