Innovative way to serve reunion meals

Restaurants are catering to more cautious diners amid the COVID-19 outbreak by offering Lunar New Year reunion dinner deliveries and tightening control over food safety.

Reunion dinners are traditionally held on Lunar New Year's Eve, which falls on Feb 11 this year.

With the recent COVID-19 flareups in parts of the country, people are being encouraged to avoid crowds and stay where they are over the holiday, when people traditionally return to their hometowns to reunite with the family.

Sheraton Grand Wuhan Hankou Hotel in Central China's Hubei province has launched a Lunar New Year reunion dinner delivery service for the first time.

There are two set menus to choose from priced at 688 yuan ($107) and 999 yuan respectively, which are "much lower than their original prices of 1,180 yuan and 2,130 yuan", said Yu Qiaomei, head of service at the hotel's food and beverage division.

"As 2020 was such a difficult year, we are offering these discounted reunion dinner packages to express our gratitude for people's support," Yu said. The dishes are sealed in tinfoil containers and bagged in insulated packaging, Yu added.

Customers within a 15-kilometer radius of the hotel will receive their orders at their doorstep from delivery workers dressed up as caishen, the Chinese deity of wealth.

Shangri-La Hotel Wuhan launched a reunion dinner delivery service on Dec 15. Customers less than 10 km away can order deliveries of reunion dinner packages by phoning the hotel or via its WeChat account.

"People are more cautious about hygiene when it comes to dining out during a pandemic," said Zhang Rui, general manager of the hotel. "Given the limited number of private dining rooms at restaurants, having the reunion dinner at home has become a favored option."

Zhang said that by sending the reunion dinner to customers' doorstep, the hotel hopes to bring safety as well as festivity and blessings into people's homes.

The hotel will also give away gifts such as candy boxes and Lunar New Year couplets with orders.

Metropark Lido Hotel Beijing has introduced the concept of "having the reunion dinner at home" this year and is offering partially prepared reunion dinner kits to "reduce queues and gatherings", said Wang Guowei, general manager of the hotel.

"Having the reunion dinner at home creates a stronger bond between family members," he said. "People can ring in the new year in the company of familiar food and childhood memories."

Unlike reunion dinner packages for around 10 people offered in previous years, the hotel this year is focusing on smaller kits designed for three to six people. "These semi-prepared meal boxes are a bit like ready-to-eat takeouts and suit the needs of small families," Wang said.

Delivery options favored

Restaurants have seen robust growth in orders for delivered reunion dinners and a decline in dine-in reservations in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year.

Yu of Sheraton Grand Wuhan Hankou said the hotel has recorded a 20 percent increase in bookings for delivered reunion dinner packages compared with the same period last year.

"Some customers considered canceling dine-in bookings in the wake of recent outbreaks. But most of them switched to takeout options when they learned that delivery service is available," Yu said.

Without giving an exact number, Yu said "bookings for reunion dinner takeouts have far exceeded expectations".

However, Yu added that reservations for private dining rooms have gone down compared with the same period last year. "We have received virtually zero orders from big companies because people are being discouraged from holding gatherings of more than 10 people."

Wanda Vista Shenyang, in Northeast China's Liaoning province, has seen a sizable decline in reservations for dine-in reunion dinners. As of Monday, the dine-in reunion dinner reservations it had received were less than 30 percent of that from the same period last year, according to its food and beverage manager Tyson Liu.

Chengdu Marriott Hotel Financial Centre in southeastern China has reported an approximately 30 percent year-on-year decrease in dine-in reservations. Banquet bookings have dropped over 85 percent on a yearly basis, said Deng Xuehui, director of food and beverage at the hotel.

With customers who have backed out of reservations following recent COVID-19 outbreaks, KHOS Shenyang has been understanding and cooperative.

"We fully understand the seriousness of the situation and therefore we had no alternative but to cancel and refund all guest bookings," said Jimmy Chan, general manager of the hotel. "We have kept in close contact with our guests to keep them updated on the situation and it was only when the government relaxed the restrictions have we considered reopening."

Preventive measures

To respond to concerns about food safety, restaurants have introduced stricter precautions for both on-and off-premises dining.

Shangri-La Wuhan said its staff members take daily temperature checks and disinfect tables and chairs after every seating. Delivery vehicles are also disinfected after each service.

It checks the temperature and health code of walk-in diners and provides them with supplies such as alcohol wipes and bags for face masks. Tables on the premises are kept 1.5 meters apart. It has also suspended the use of imported cold-chain food.

KHOS Shenyang has made a similar move. It has eliminated some imported food items and replaced them with locally sourced products that have a certification from the local government, said the hotel.

Sheraton Grand Wuhan Hankou Hotel has assigned a hygiene inspector to check whether its kitchen staff are complying with in-house food safety protocols.

The kitchen staff have been vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive nucleic acid tests on a regular basis. They are also required to provide their travel history every week, the hotel said.