Singapore's F&B outlets got a badly-needed lifeline when they were allowed to welcome dine-in customers again for Phase 2, post-circuit breaker. While the influx of business was a relief for the struggling eateries — which had to rely on takeaway orders during the CB to stay afloat — it also presented a new problem. F&B operators are now voicing out about the challenges in getting their customers to comply with safe distancing rules, on top of their usual duties of cooking and serving food.

And the owners have good reason to be nervous. The consequences of non-compliance are serious; Shaw House steamboat joint Hai Xian Lao was recently suspended for 10 days and fined $2,000 for allowing 20 customers to dine together in a private room. Sid Kim, the boss of Vatos Urban Tacos at South Beach and Vatos Cantina at Holland Village, also wrote a now-viral Facebook post in which he revealed that he was forced to call the police after two tables of seven diners refused to stop mingling. He pointed out that “many F&B establishments are barely hanging on as it is — a massive fine and 10 days of mandatory shutdown could easily be the final nail in the coffin”.

Photo: Vatos Cantina

Meanwhile, Japanese chef-restaurateur Teppei Yamashita had to turn away big groups of customers who wanted to dine at his eponymous omakase restaurant in Tanjong Pagar. According to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, his staff “have been getting requests to accommodate groups of more than five pax with the creative way of splitting into different reservations”.

He tells 8days.sg that he gets such requests about once a week. “When we told them about the requirement, they insisted that it’s okay as long as they are in groups of five, whereas our understanding is a maximum of five pax per group of friends,” he shares. FYI: the government has explicitly stated on its website that “if you need to meet your friends in person over a meal, make sure to keep the group as small as possible, with the maximum of five people”.

To play on the safe side, he declines all reservations for over five pax. He adds: “The customers tried to convince us that it’s allowed.” However, he also had to grapple with diners who sneakily split up their reservations, only to convene en-masse at the restaurant. “For such cases, on the actual day, we will advise them to not mingle and perhaps reach out to police if the group refuses to cooperate,” he says.

If a restaurant like Teppei (and most sushi and tapas bars) have mostly counter seating, can you book the entire counter under different names? So you and your pals can dine in groups of more than five at the same bar, separately merely by one metre between groups? Well, technically you could, but the minute you “mingle”, like chat from across the counter with your kakis — then could you be breaking the law? Just don’t risk it — and also put already struggling F&B operators at risk of having to close its premises because of you.

Restaurant Teppei has only 22 counter seats, with customers facing the chefs. To ensure adequate safe distancing, Teppei-san has installed plastic barriers between the open concept kitchen and diners, with a small gap at the bottom for the chefs to serve food (see pic above; fine-dining sushi bar Shinji by Kanesaka has a similar setup). There’s also a one-metre gap to separate different groups of customers. As for merrymaking folks who love offering sake to the omakase chefs, just don’t (it should be common sense by now that sharing food with strangers is a no-no for all involved). And the chef would have to keep removing his mask to sip your offering.

The restaurant’s Facebook post concedes that it will “evaluate [reservations] case by case” for parties above five pax from the same household, with diners required to provide “proof of residence to confirm that indeed the group is all under the same roof”. As his restaurant is reservation-only, Teppei-san reckons it’s easier to sieve out errant customers in advance and “manage accordingly”. But of course, the onus is on the customers to regulate themselves. After all, you don’t want to end your night with a trip to the police station, or have your name splashed all over social media for brazenly flouting safe distancing rules.

Photos: Teppei Yamashita/ Alvin Teo (shot in 2019)