Patios instead of parking, wine and cheese in public parks, paperless financial transactions — all look like they could be here to stay
On Father’s Day this past June, Iani Makris slow-roasted a lamb on a spit out front of his Gastown restaurant on a temporary patio where cars used to park, a patio like those that sprung up in municipalities across Metro Vancouver as the pandemic took hold.
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Family, friends and regulars later enjoyed the succulent lamb provided by the Greek Gastown, a feast that had been turned by hand and braised continually for about six hours as what few tourists there were stopped to take photos.
Makris and other restaurant owners, depending on where they are in Metro Vancouver, can now move ahead knowing their new or expanded patios are here for good, one of the many changes that COVID-19 forced upon us in B.C. and which now look to have become permanent.
Vancouver city council approved such permanent patios last week.
“Extra outdoor real estate is always a hit in this city, weather permitting of course,” said Makris, who has expanded his North Vancouver family-owned ‘Greek by Anatoli‘ brand to Gastown and Yaletown.
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Both Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver have done wonderful jobs in recognizing what restaurants needed over the summer, Makris said, and he had hoped all along that the new outdoor spaces would become permanent.
“They’ve been a hit,” Makris said.
TransLink was the first transportation agency in North America to test copper for its virus- and bacteria-fighting abilities, and it found the metal was 99.9-per-cent effective in killing bacteria within an hour of contact.
Along with Vancouver Coastal Health, UBC and Teck Resources, TransLink is entering Phase 2 of testing copper on some of its buses and SkyTrains, using materials approved by Health Canada for copper’s antimicrobial properties.
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“This project came out of the pandemic and the need to see how we can keep our system safer and cleaner,” TransLink spokeswoman Tina Lovgreen said. “If anything, the pandemic has taught us we need to be innovative, creative and adaptable.”
“The results have been reassuring,” said Dr. Marthe Charles, division head of medical microbiology, and of infection prevention and control at Vancouver Coastal Health, speaking of the early phases of studies placing copper on high-touch surfaces.
Phase 2 of the pilot project adds a lab study to see if copper can kill viruses such as SARS-CoV-2.
“The mechanism of activity of copper towards viruses is a bit different (from how it kills bacteria) and there are a lot of things we’re still learning,” Charles said. “I’m excited Phase 2 is finally launched and I can’t wait to see the results.”
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Before the pandemic, takeout might have accounted for about 15 per cent of a restaurant’s business, according to Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
But many eateries are now planning for that number to double to about 30 per cent of the food and beverages they prepare, Tostenson said.
“Looking back, (takeout) wasn’t a big deal, but it was there,” he said. “During the pandemic, we learned how awesome it was that we could order good food and enjoy it at home.
“It represents a lot of business now, and it’s not going away.”
Hats off, he added, to the provincial government for capping fees for food-delivery companies, and for permitting accompanying liquor with food deliveries, allowing restaurateurs to get creative and offer meal-and-cocktail kits and wine pairings for meals.
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Linda Buchanan, who as mayor of the City of North Vancouver, guided through the first municipal public-drinking-in-parks policy in Canada outside of Quebec. She is thrilled with the way the policy has been received.
“It worked out really, really well,” Buchanan said. “It was made permanent last fall and it has exceeded all the expectations we had. People really embraced it, got great feedback from the community.”
The idea of allowing alcohol consumption in parks was guided, with a nod to treating adults as adults, by a desire to allow people to congregate safely outside, where it is easier to physically distance.
“We want you to be outside. We want you to be connecting with people,” Buchanan said.
There are a handful of Metro municipalities, including Vancouver, PoCo and West Van, that also now allow the practice.
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“COVID allowed us to do some things we wanted to do anyway,” Buchanan said. “And I couldn’t be prouder of my community, myself as a resident, how people embraced it and behaved.”
Many venues have introduced timed ticketing, such as the recent Imagine Van Gogh exhibit that just ended its run and at which you would not be admitted if you showed up later than your ticket time.
The Vancouver Aquarium and Science World also have timed ticketing, while venues such as B.C. Place accept tickets on mobile platforms only, and don’t take cash at concessions or team-store outlets inside the stadium.
“For those who don’t have a mobile form of payments, we also have put in place a cash-to-card system — so essentially you purchase a gift card for the venue, which you can use on food and beverages,” B.C. Place director of events and assistant general manager Jenna Visram said recently when the stadium reopened after 529 days of emptiness.
Also, you might want to start getting used to putting your belongings in a see-through bag if you want to bring them into venues.
Source: vancouversun.com
