Photo : Café Du Soleil Facebook/@rflnyc
New Yorkers are looking to dine out in the cool, fall weather while keeping a distance from others can now do so in ‘space bubbles’ that protect up to six customers from the wind and rain. The French restaurant Cafe du Soleil on the corner of Broadway and West 104th on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, New York, placed transparent tent bubbles over each dining table in the outdoor eating section.
The eatery put the 18 geodesic domes, or ‘space bubbles,’ along its outdoor dining area on the pedestrian sidewalk so that customers won’t be scared away by the fall elements. Each space bubble, which is made out of clear plastic, is 7ft tall and has enough room to sit six customers, according to Time Out New York. The bubbles make it feel 10 degrees warmer for diners brave enough to step outside during the fall.
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“It’s been really hard. We had to reinvent ourselves. Even before dining could come back, we had to figure how to survive.” – Maxime Rousselot, one of the French bistro’s managing partners, told Time Out New York.
Cafe du Soleil, which seats about 80 guests outdoors thanks to the wide sidewalks along Broadway, began using the space bubbles weeks ago when it wasn’t apparent that the government would approve of indoor dining. The bistro offers delicacies like Provencal-style rotisserie chicken, grass-fed steak au poivre, and a cassoulet.
Beginning on September 30, restaurants who serve customers indoors can only fill the area up to 25 per cent capacity due to ongoing restrictions aimed at preventing a renewed outbreak of COVID-19 in the New York metropolitan area.
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