If you’re uneasy about indoor dining, this NYC restaurant is starting a pilot program that involves all customers and staff receiving a negative COVID-19 test before entering.
City Winery’s brand new restaurant and event space at Pier 57 in Chelsea will be experimenting with a new concept, offering diners a “100% COVID-19 tested space” two nights per week (on Tuesdays and Wednesdays) starting Tuesday, Nov. 24.
The test will cost $50 per person and you must pay beforehand when you make your reservation on Resy.
When you arrive, you’ll go through a wellness check (temperature check, etc.) and then a certified practitioner will give you a shallow nasal swab. You’ll wait 10-15 minutes for your result outside — along with a glass of City Winery bubbly! — and once it is negative you can enter. If it is positive, you will not be allowed to enter, though you can request that it be sent to a lab which will validate the results within 24 hours.
Every employee will also have tested negative that very day. Other safety standards, including mask requirements, sanitizing, etc., will still be upheld.
“We believe that hospitality is all about making our customers comfortable and given the pandemic, that is all about feeling safe. Given the change of the seasons, finding the next level of safety and comfort level for people to dine indoors is critical for us today,” said Michael Dorf, Founder and CEO of City Winery.
And for those questioning the accuracy of such a fast test, City Winery will be using Antigen tests with BD Veritor analyzers, which provide greater than 99% accuracy for negative results.
As the weather gets colder and colder, we wonder if other restaurants will try to take on something similar! If you want to know more about what the new City Winery space offers, read all about it here.
featured image source: Courtesy City Winery