Swedish pop-up restaurant fights coronavirus one guest at a time

RANSÄTER, Sweden — A coronavirus-resistant restaurant in a meadow in Sweden with just one table and one chair has welcomed its first guest.

The pop-up restaurant named Bord for En — Table for One in English — has no waiters and the food is delivered to the table in a basket from the kitchen window via a pulley system.

Upon arrival, the guest is guided to the table by another rope that leads into the meadow. “Once the rope ends, there’s the chair and the table,” chef Rasmus Persson said, adding that the first basket to arrive at the table would carry a drink.

Persson, who founded the restaurant with his partner Linda Karlsson, said they had the idea when her parents came to visit in March and he prepared a table for them outside and served a meal through a window.

“I think one of the things many of us miss the most in these times is traveling,” Persson said. “Since we can’t geographically travel far I think at least by our minds we can travel and one of the best methods of having an inner travel, at least I think so, is by food and nature.”

Restaurants in Sweden have, unlike in many other countries, been allowed to stay open during the COVID-19 pandemic provided they observe social distancing guidelines.

The solo restaurant is fully booked through May while some slots are still available in June and July and they have weather protection for rainy days, Karlsson said. — Reuters