This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.Shared plates and a dozen family members or business associates seated around a big round table are hallmarks of Chinese restaurants. But in order to operate while COVID-19 is still a threat, such businesses will have to change not only their public-health practices but a dining culture as well.
Ms. Zheng, who is also the financial director of the BC Asian Restaurant Café Owners Association, said that although some Chinese restaurants were already promoting individual serving culture before the pandemic, the public health crisis is “accelerating” the shift. Canada Catering Association president Charlie Huang said serving customers individual portions isn’t entirely new to Chinese restaurants, but the pandemic has prompted wider discussion of the practice.In China, concerns about traditional communal dining accelerating the spread of COVID-19 have prompted Chinese authorities to launch an aggressive campaign to persuade diners to use serving chopsticks rather than their own.
But the loss of those big groups will simply be too much of a revenue hit for some restaurants. Alex Wang, executive director of Peninsula Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver, said his dining room, which heavily relied on banquets – about 40 per cent of its revenues – has no plan to reopen any time soon.Mr. Huang said he was very disappointed with the province’s decision to limit tables to no more than six patrons.
No more bat soup, then?