Buffets Allowed To Resume Again On 12 Apr With Safety Guidelines In Place
More activities have been allowed to resume as the Covid-19 pandemic remains under control in Singapore.
And now, it’s foodies’ turn to rejoice. After more than a year, buffets are finally back on the table in Singapore.
Starting Monday (12 Apr), buffets can resume at food and beverage outlets, work-related events, as well as at meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) industry events.
However, strict guidelines must be observed as a safety precaution.
Staff-served buffets allowed again
Since the ‘Circuit Breaker‘ last year, buffets have been off the menus. Now, they are finally making a return.
The Association of Catering Professionals Singapore announced that starting Monday (12 Apr), staff-served buffets can resume, under certain guidelines.
However, buffets at weddings, funeral services and social activities within corporate settings are still not allowed, reported The Straits Times (ST).
According to Lianhe Zaobao, popular buffet place Carousel at Royal Plaza on Scotts resumed their buffet services on Monday (12 Apr), serving about 160 diners.
StraitsKitchen at the Grand Hyatt Singapore will also restart their buffet on Tuesday (13 Apr).
Food must be served by staff
However, buffets will look a little different from the way they did pre-pandemic.
According to ST, food must be served by staff donning masks and gloves.
The buffet spread must also be covered with plastic shields or barriers.
Additionally, diners queueing for food must have their masks on. A 1-metre distance must also be maintained from the next person in line.
Similarly, food establishments must make sure that there is at least 1 metre separating the queue and seated diners.
Additional event guidelines
For corporate and MICE events, there are additional guidelines to ensure safety.
At corporate events, each food line can only serve up to 50 people. There must also be a safe management representative on-site to ensure the measures have been complied with.
Participants must be seated immediately once they get their food and no mingling is allowed, reported ST.
At MICE events, participants will be split into zones with a maximum of 50 participants each.
There, they will be further split into groups of up to 20 people. Only those in the same group are allowed in the same food queue.
In the case that there’s only 1 food line, those from different zones are not allowed to be served at the same time.
Good news for F&B industry
The food and beverages industry has suffered great losses since the start of the pandemic.
Hopefully, this is good news for the industry and a sign that more restrictions will be eased in time to come.
For now, we’re glad buffets have made a comeback in such a safe manner so we can finally indulge ourselves once again.
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Featured image adapted from Lianhe Zaobao and Tatler.
