Serving Up Realness
Last night a friend and I met for a long-overdue catch-up at Brasserie Zedel in London. It was the second Monday in succession at that particular restaurant for me but this time felt very different so I spent some time thinking what made it so different.
It was the 3rd time I’ve travelled into central London since March to dine and it now feels like a normal routine as opposed to a trek into a post-apocalyptic filmset.
There is something enjoyable about planning a busy work day knowing there is a social aspect to it at the conclusion.
I’d experienced the due diligence taken by Zedel - temperature check, contact details, physical separation, careful service, individual hand sanitizer at the place setting - so now I knew I was heading into a reduced risk environment.
We met for pre-drinks, ending the feeling that eating was the sole purpose of the occasion and, since we were drinking in the adjoining Bar Americain, we allowed ourselves the loucheness of being a little late sitting down for dinner.
Just as we had finished ordering my dining companion spotted an old friend and waved across the room and walked over to reconnect - socially distant of course. A reminder that the pandemic hadn’t quite snuffed out serendipity.
When dinner finished we didn’t jump up but lingered a little and interestingly enough so did others. Less rush.
In essence we had a real dinner experience. It’s just taken a few dry runs. We had fallen out of practice. Almost 5 months spent in our own kitchens had buried the purpose of going out.
The UK Government’s “Eat Out To Help Out” (64 million meals as of today) scheme has provided us with ‘training wheels’. Pushing us out the door and reminding us of the pleasures of enjoying someone else’s culinary efforts and the joy of eating amongst strangers.
We’ve got a long way to go and the pressure is on restaurants and bars to deliver experiences which continue to attract but this felt a lot like normal.
I want a 2nd and 3rd helping of that.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Izatt is a brand consultant living in London and founder of Mission Critical, a highly focused and curated weekly briefing for time poor and information hungry decision makers and THE FIRST, a monthly briefing containing 31 inspirational insights. Mission Critical is a digital product delivered via his Estonian Consultancy business.
You can email Mark here and read about his recently published book ‘Mission Critical - 101 tips to survive and thrive at work in the office, on the move and at home’.
