UK's first purpose-built Covid-19 restaurant to open in Cornwall
What seems to be the UK's first restaurant desgined specifically with the coronavirus pandemic in mind is set to open in a hotel in Rock, Cornwall.
The St Moritz Hotel & Spa will launch a new socially distanced pop-up restaurant for the summer when it reopens on July 4, the earliest possible date outlined by the government. The Anti-Social Club will consist of 16 private dining rooms, with a maximum of 96 covers and multiple sittings.
The individual rooms are all accessed from outside, with service from a central atrium and all food and drink delivered via a set of hatches, meaning groups do not come into contact with each other or staff. Each room will be fully cleaned between sittings.
Interiors are the work of Cornish agency Absolute, which designed the original white, Art Deco-inspired hotel, and will continue in this style, mixing a Miami-esque colour palette with classic coastal stripes. Menus, meanwhile, will feature Cornish suppliers and producers.
The hotel is planning to reopen with all its bedrooms, self-catering apartments and villas operational and in line with or surpassing government healthy and safety guidelines. Its Cowshed Spa will reopen on July 6, while the two pools (indoor and outdoor) will be open on a strictly pre-booking per household basis only. The gym, sauna, steam room and Mini Moritz Club for children will remain closed pending further government advice on safe reopening.
Co-owner Hugh Ridgway said: "Covid-19 has stopped the industry in its tracks. Like all hotels, bars and restaurants across the globe, the virus has hit our business like an unbelievable sledgehammer. However, as ever, we have dusted ourselves off, and risen to this unpredictable challenge in our own creative, St Moritz way.
"Our purposeful architecture allows us to trade our rooms in a safe and socially distanced manner, however we can only sell those hotel rooms if we can feed our guests – and feed them well. Simply reworking our current restaurants and bars, and operating at 30 per cent capacity doesn't allow that, so our specially designed summer pop-up restaurant overcomes this obstacle, adding to, rather than detracting from, our stylish, VIP guest experience."
Hugh's brother Steve Ridgway, until last week chairman of Visit Britain and former chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said: "Within Visit Britain we have been encouraging the industry to discover, and unlock, experimental opportunities that provide a silver lining among the Covid-19 challenges.
"With The Anti-Social Club, and other changes to St Moritz Hotel & Spa, I am very much putting my money where my mouth is – and we're all exceedingly pleased to have landed on a new concept and dining solution that elevates the summer experience there. Thousands of customers do not want to miss their summer holidays and this will mean they won't, and that they can holiday in a safe and enjoyable way."
Double rooms from £175, including breakfast. Read the full review; or for more UK hotel reopenings visit our calendar.
