Yurts, barns and even igloos — or at least an igloo-shaped tent — have all become outdoor dining options at restaurants this COVID-19 winter. And Talullah in Cambridge hopes “dining greenhouses” will keep the restaurant rooted until spring.
“I wouldn't say thriving, but I would say that we're still doing OK,” said Conor Dennehy, Talullah’s chef and owner. “We've been able to operate successfully since we came back into the building. Looks like it's a viable solution to make it through the winter.”
And it’s a bleak winter. Many restaurants are now hibernating in order to survive until spring. Massachusetts restaurants have lost more than $1 billion in sales, and more than 200,000 workers have been laid off or furloughed, according to the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
“At this point, it's essentially nickel and diming it every week, and it really does feel like every week is another month,” said Tony Messina, executive chef and partner of the Back Bay restaurant Uni. “How do we get through this week, and how does this week allow us to gear up for the following week?”
The federal government, he said, must step in to prevent the “mass extinction” of restaurants.
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