Europe's most creative solutions to distanced restaurant dining

Restaurant Nowhere is proving distanced dining can be distinguished. Photo / Supplied, Nicklas Hultman,Oddbird

In many parts of the world restaurants have been balancing the cautious return to service with the need to socially distance.

Hospitality is still grappling with what to do in a post-Pandemic world, with solutions ranging from reducing seating number to sealing off parties from one another with plastic shields and curtains.

One Parisian café has even employed the help of giant, stuffed teddy bears to fill empty seats and help maintain distancing between diners. The scenic cafe near the Sorbonne, Le Choupinet employed the fluffy table staff to make the experience more "bearable" for visitors.

Social distancing in Parisian cafés today: pic.twitter.com/armOGkEARu

— Dawn Robertson 🇪🇺🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇳🇱#RejoinEU (@RobertsonDawn3) June 25, 2020

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands the vegan restaurant ETEN at the Mediamatic biocentre has found a suitable use for their old greenhouses - using them to keep patrons partitioned and sheltered from the elements.

meanwhile, the Netherland's social distancing restaurants are much more... elegant. pic.twitter.com/DWwG6oNIKK

— Samantha Gray (@samustrations) June 24, 2020

However it is in Sweden that Europe's have found the most elegant solution to distanced dining. After reading about the Ransäter concept restaurant called Bord för En, or "dinner for one" a pair of responsible restaurateurs have started a pop-up in the Häringe nature reserve near Stockholm.

The al-fresco safari restaurant has been named "Nowhere" and is supposed to be an antidote to the lack of travel during the public health emergency.

"Instead of travelling abroad, we now find ourselves out in nature and discovering magical places we had not previously regarded as destinations. It is not really the place in itself that we want to get to with Nowhere, rather a state of mind," said a spokesperson for the restaurant.

Swedes are praticing distanced dining at 'Nowhere'. Photo / Nicklas Hultman, Oddbird

Sponsored by a non-alcoholic wine company Oddbird the stunt is designed to "liberate" diners in the scenic surrounds of the parkland. Six tables are scattered throughout the parkland in unique settings of splendid isolation.

The chefs cooking up the dishes are Marion Ringborg and Linn Söderström, from Stockholm's Garba restaurant.

The popular pop-up diner they founded in 2017 translates perfectly from the Swedish capital to the scenic parkland of Häringe castle estate.

Chefs Marion Ringborg and Linn Söderström of Garba in Stockholm will be designing the menu. Photo / Supplied

It might at first seem a contradiction, but interior design has been an important part of setting the scene for Ringborg and Söderström's outdoor dining setup.

Husband and wife team, Anna and Lars Norrman own the interior design studio that have helped come up with the look and feel of the 'al fresco' experience.

The restaurant is taking bookings until August 20, when it will close.