Outdoor dining

Etymology

The phrase al fresco composed of two words, is borrowed from Italian for "in the cool/fresh [air]". It is not in current use in Italian to refer to dining outside. Instead, Italians use the phrases fuori ("outside", "outdoor") or all'aperto ("in the open [air]"). In Italian, the expression al fresco usually refers to spending time in jail.

COVID-19 pandemic

In 2020, responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, many cities increased the options for restaurants to offer outdoor dining, in order to promote open-air and spaced-out seating, and help businesses economically recover from the pandemic's impact.{{Cite web|title=Open Restaurants

In New York City, 10,600 restaurants had enrolled in the city's outdoor dining program by September 2020, compared to just 1,023 sidewalk cafes that existed before the pandemic. The use of bubble tents or outdoor dining pods also increased during the pandemic. Before the pandemic, these pod installations were rare. Although outdoor pods reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19 compared to indoor dining, they have been criticized for their lack of air ventilation.

Some cities, such as New York and Portland, have taken steps to preserve outdoor dining installations that were originally introduced as a COVID-19 mitigation, albeit with new regulations and fee structures. In other cities, such as Paris, Long Beach and Claremont, rollbacks to initially liberal pandemic-era dining policies have resulted in a significant decrease in the availability of outdoor dining.

References

References

1. Santoni, Sharon. (2016-04-11). "french living - the al fresco dining season".
2. Preble, Keith. (July 1, 2014). "Word of the Day: stare al fresco". Parola del Giorno.
3. "Dizionario dei modi di dire". Fresco.
4. (2023-05-05). "The Evolution of Restaurant Design Trends Over Time".
5. (2020-11-09). "The Setups for Outdoor Winter Dining Are Lavish. But Are They Safe?". The New York Times.
6. Forster, Victoria. "Why 'Bubble Dining' Pods Are a Terrible Idea During the Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic".
7. "Outdoor Dining Ideas for Restaurants in the Era of COVID". mcdonaldpaper.com.
8. Stone, Will. "Yurts, Igloos and Pop-Up Domes: How Safe Is 'Outside' Restaurant Dining This Winter?". NPR.
9. Wray, Sarah. (2023-08-17). "New York makes outdoor dining permanent – with new rules".
10. Foden-Vencil, Kristian. (December 10, 2022). "COVID changed our lives, and our streets, as outdoor restaurant seating becomes permanent".
11. (2022-03-27). "Seulement 4.000 des 12.000 terrasses estivales validées à Paris".
12. Schuster, Kat. (2023-02-08). "Here's why all of Long Beach's COVID-era parklets have disappeared".
13. Rojas, Javier. (2023-03-03). "Claremont ends pandemic-era outdoor dining program".