Ripon restaurant bookings picking up

Restaurants in Ripon are reporting lots of bookings for July 4 after being given the go-ahead by government to reopen, but the dining experience will be bittersweet due to social distancing restrictions.

Rick Jones, owner of Italian restaurant Valentinos, told the Stray Ferret they are “full steam ahead” and expecting a full house on July 4, albeit with a reduced seating capacity of around 30%.

It will be a different type of table service on July 4 and interaction between staff and customer will be minimised, which Mr Jones hopes won’t put too many customers off.

He said:

“We haven’t seen these customers for so long and you just want to hug them and embrace them. But we will almost have a sterile environment and you can’t interact as much as before.

“We know about all our customer’s lives and stories, but we literally have to serve them and walk away to eliminate contamination time.”

“It’s not going to be the grand reopening we expected with parties and celebrations but something is better than nothing. Even just a smile on someone’s face will be worth it.”

Richard Hughes and his partner Magdalena Torres are the owners of Spanish Tapas bar and restaurant Manchega. As a self-declared “party person” Mr Hughes told the Stray Ferret he’s missed the social aspect of running a busy restaurant.

Magdelena Torres, Jose Simo, Isabel Rodrigues – Manchega.

He said:

“I can’t wait. I’m a party sort of person anyway and a Tapas bar is all about the good times. The atmosphere is a big part of it so I can’t wait to get the buzz going again. That’s what it’s all about.”

But Manchega won’t be opening until July 14 as the owners are allowing their Spanish head chef return to his home country to visit family. Mr Hughes also wants to see how busy other restaurants are in Ripon from July 4.

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Mario Fantino has been serving up traditional Italian food at Prima Pizzeria for over 30 years. He told the Stray Ferret it was “heartbreaking” to see it stand empty for many months.

He said they are almost fully booked for next weekend and the early signs are positive for the rest of the summer.

He also believes people in Ripon “can’t wait” to go out for a slice of Pepperoni or Margherita in his restaurant.

He said:

“People have been paid their furlough money but have not had the time to spend it, so there’s a bit of money around. We’ve got lots of bookings and I imagine everyone else has.”

“It will be great to see people sitting down again in the restaurant. It will be wonderful.”