[Hearth]
Photos by Stacie Joy
Wednesday marked the beginning of indoor dining at the state-mandated 25-percent capacity... about 175 days after the PAUSE order went into effect in March.
EVG contributor Stacie Joy visited 14 East Village restaurants early in the evening as the dinner hour was getting underway to see how places were creatively using their spaces to provide safe service for both patrons and their staffs.
Being such a nice fall night out on Wednesday, many diners stayed in the comforts of the curbside or sidewalk spaces. Other loyal and intrepid diners went right inside. Not everyone is ready for indoor dining. And not every restaurant is ready to resume service inside.
Some observations from Stacie: Air purifiers were everywhere. Temp checks at the door. Contact tracing for every table (or every diner, depending on where you went). Some places had a handheld scanner for temps, others had ones mounted on the wall.
Here's a look... (the names and info for each restaurant is at the end of the post...)
[Lavagna]
[Il Posto Accanto]
[Mary at Mary O's]
[Veselka]
[Pangea]
[John's of 12th Street]
[Mokyo]
[Jack at Takahachi]
[Nowon]
[Tuome]
[Lucien]
[Divya's Kitchen]
[Bin 141]
Here's the list of restaurants — in alphabetical order — that Stacie visited:
→ Bin 141, 43 Avenue A
→ Divya’s Kitchen, 25 First Ave.
→ Hearth, 403 East 12th St.
→ Il Posto Accanto, 190 E. Second St.
→ John’s of 12th Street, 302 East 12th St.
→ Lavagna, 545 East Fifth St.
→ Lucien, 14 First Ave.
→ Mary O’s, 32 Avenue A
→ Mokyo, 109 St. Mark’s Place
→ Nowon, 507 East Sixth St.
→ Pangea, 178 Second Ave.
→ Takahachi, 85 Avenue A
→ Tuome, 536 East Fifth St.
→ Veselka, 144 Second Ave.
Said Stacie: "I was grateful to every owner who let me in and allowed me to take pics. Every place I went to was accommodating and unfailingly polite. The hospitality was nice."