Covid: Street-facing window key for café as hospitality businesses face possibility of 'ongoing in-and-outs' of alert levels

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

“If we went back into another lockdown or if we had ongoing in-and-outs of different levels, we were ready for it,” said Al Belcher, right, co-owner of Hamilton’s Sentinel Cafe. He’s pictured with daughter and co-owner Micah Belcher.

A Hamilton café has future-proofed itself with a streetside serving window as New Zealand rides the roller-coaster of pandemic alert levels.

And more businesses are looking at changes to make it easier to operate under the restrictions of a Covid environment, the Restaurant Association says.

When Sentinel Café opened in Hamilton’s main street in March, a street-facing window was on co-owner Al Belcher’s list.

“If we went back into another lockdown or if we had ongoing in-and-outs of different levels, we were ready for it. And, if we didn’t, then we just had a nice feature window in the front where we could still do takeaways and pick-up right off the street front,” he said.

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It doesn’t seem like this is “just going to blow over”, Al Belcher said, so plans such as spaced-out tables were important.

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The window means the café can serve customers without them entering the premises, and operate under alert level 3.

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“So sort of hedging our bets really,” Belcher said. “Probably just like everyone else in the country - it’s hard to know what we are dealing with and how long it will go on for, so we just have to be prepared.”

“Indications don’t seem to be that this is just going to blow over, it sounds like government legislation has got long term plans for altered ways of doing life and interacting with each other. I think any business starting up needs to take into consideration this could pop up again if it doesn’t get sorted.”

Sentinel’s seating layout was also considered, Belcher said, with tables for various group sizes and space in between.

Having an adaptable environment allows businesses to meet the rules at higher alert levels but increase capacity at level 1, Restaurant Association of New Zealand chief executive Marisa Bidois said.

“We’ve tried to create space in [the café], so it feels like you are not jammed into a corner at any table you sit at.”

Sentinel also has an app for orders, and does deliveries in the CBD.

Belcher will use what he’s learnt with Sentinel when he opens another café in Hamilton in October.

“We will be inside a building rather than on a street frontage, so we are a little bit limited that way.

“But we have done similar things where we have a takeaway option, a delivery option, we will have an app people can use … if we have to be contactless in any way.”

Layout options are a big consideration for the hospitality sector, Restaurant Association chief executive Marisa Bidois said.

People are aware restrictions are likely to be around for a while, and being able to alter the layout gives businesses more flexibility to accommodate them, she said.

“For example, we’ve seen businesses putting in place dedicated pick lanes and windows that more easily allow them to operate in a level 3 environment. Choosing an adaptable layout is also quite important as it will allow businesses to increase capacity in an alert level 1 environment.”

But Retail New Zealand CEO Greg Harford hadn’t heard of retail businesses looking to reconfigure their physical space to deal with Covid alert levels.

“They have click and collect already in place … Some businesses have already moved into being more contactless, like supermarkets that have lockers.”