Thursday. 28.03.2024

Swedish corona-safe restaurant serves one guest at a time in a meadow

There are now waiters and food comes to the table in a basket via a pulley system. Owners say the restaurant is fully booked through May, while some slots are still available in June and July.
A Swedish couple is opening a "COVID-19-safe" pop-up restaurant in a meadow with one chair and one table in Ransater, Sweden March 26, 2020. There are no waiters and the food is brought to the table in a basket from the restaurant window via a pulley system. Linda Karlsson/Handout via REUTERS
A Swedish couple is opening a "COVID-19-safe" pop-up restaurant in a meadow with one chair and one table. Photo: Linda Karlsson/via Reuters.

A coronavirus-resistant restaurant in a meadow in Ransater (Sweden) with just one table and one chair has welcomed its first guest.

The pop-up restaurant named Bord for En - Table for One in English - has no waiters and the food is delivered to the table in a basket from the kitchen window via a pulley system.

Upon arrival, the guest is guided to the table by another rope that leads into the meadow. "Once the rope ends, there's the chair and the table," chef Rasmus Persson said, adding that the first basket to arrive at the table would carry a drink.

Persson, who founded the restaurant with his partner Linda Karlsson, said they had the idea when her parents came to visit in March and he prepared a table for them outside and served a meal through a window.

A Swedish couple is opening a Photo: Linda Karlsson/via Reuters.

"I think one of the things many of us miss the most in these times is travelling," Persson said. "Since we can't geographically travel far I think at least by our minds we can travel and one of the best methods of having an inner travel, at least I think so, is by food and nature."

Restaurants in Sweden have, unlike in many other countries, been allowed to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic provided they observe social distancing guidelines.

The solo restaurant is fully booked through May while some slots are still available in June and July and they have weather protection for rainy days, Karlsson said.

Swedish corona-safe restaurant serves one guest at a time in a meadow