It doesn't matter how great of a cook you are, it feels good to eat out at a restaurant. The food at restaurants just tastes better. Maybe it's all the butter they use, or maybe it's that you get to enjoy conversation without worrying about whether the pasta sauce is burning.
For those who aren't very skilled in the kitchen, the pandemic we're currently facing must be tremendously difficult. Sure, there are opportunities to order takeout or delivery, but that means you have to leave the house or pay for tips and delivery fees. Plus, some people just love the dining experience.
Restaurants are having to get creative to stay afloat, or they are having to go through extreme measures. One restaurant in Sweden has decided to continue serving guests during the pandemic, but don't worry, they aren't breaking any rules. They are only seating one person at a time… in a field.
What would you do if you owned a restaurant during a global pandemic? You could easily decide to give up and shut your doors for good, or you could scrape and claw for survival. That's exactly what this Swedish restaurant is doing with a truly unique, bizarre, and oddly beautiful. Their solution to social distancing is to give a peaceful, single-person dining experience to their customers. That sounds like the perfect solution to the problem we currently find ourselves in!
Linda Karlsson and Rasmus Persson are a couple who own a restaurant in Sweden called Bord for en. The name of the restaurant means “table for one” which is aptly named considering how their dining experience works. It's not open yet, but soon it will open on May 10th in the remote village of Ransater.
The restaurant is located on a giant field next to the couple's home. It will have a single seat at a small table. They got the idea after they had prepared a socially-distant lunch for Karlsson's parents. Rasmus Persson is 36-year-old former chef, so serving food is nothing new for him, though serving food through a window while his parents were outside was certainly new.
Karlsson told TODAY, "My parents invited themselves over for lunch at our new house in Ransäter, Sweden. It was a cold and windy day and even though we talk every day, I had not seen them for weeks. In Sweden, there are no restrictions when it comes to social distancing, but there are recommendations. And we follow the recommendations. So when my parents showed up, we refused to let them in. Because of the COVID-19 we instead set a table with white linen outside and served them through the window."
Sweden doesn't have any strict lockdown rules or laws, but many people are trying to keep socially distant regardless. After serving Persson's parents, the two of them decided it would be a good idea to offer the service to others. By that night they had a website up. They advertise themselves as the only COVID-19 safe restaurant in the world. The food is even served in a basket via a pulley system.
"In Sweden, some people are putting others at risk by going out to restaurants and not practicing social distancing recommendations. We hope that the mere image of our restaurant is a reminder of that we need to continue to socially distance ourselves from one another." Despite planning on being open every day, they will only serve one customer a day. Get it while it's hot!
