This pandemic has been tough. Elderly people, immunocompromised individuals and frontline workers are amongst the most effected members of society in the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this pandemic has not only medically impacted so many people but has inflicted a huge amount of damage upon businesses, most notably hospitality. The plight of these businesses is not comparable to the dangers being faced by nurses, doctors and healthcare workers, however their appendages are long and tangle the lives of all involved. I speak from personal experience. Our family has a restaurant; we’ve owned it for the past 23 years – it’s older than me. In the space of the past year, we have seen many restaurants crumble but we have also seen many flourish with the emergence of ‘heat at home’ meal packs. The question does beg itself; how much will our dining habits change post-pandemic?

Although we are a foodie family, I feel like I’m in the minority because we have yet to try out those aforementioned meal kits. I have a couple of gripes with the whole premise (as a consumer), although I respect the ingenuity and pivotal ability of businesses to offer it as an option. First off, when I go to a restaurant, I obviously want to eat great food, but I want to do so in a fun, relaxed environment. Shockingly, that’s not how I describe the atmosphere where I live. After months on end of living with the same people, having the same arguments and barely allowed to leave the county (let alone the country), things can become a little tense. I’d rather not have a professionally prepared, great dining experience ruined by an overly touchy group of people (I count myself here) arguing about who didn’t clean the dishes properly (and here, too). An argument a day keeps sanity away, I think. Maybe I’m in the minority of people here, but the magic of dining out is already completely lost and having the same food in your home as in the restaurant does little to reignite that spark. The feeling of waiting to see your food sailing through the restaurant in the hands of the food runners, or hearing some heinous cackle of another diner you and your friends can share a joke about, or even just not having the responsibility of cleaning up after everyone, are the little reasons we dine out that are lost when we are at home.

 On a less important note: the price. I’m not going to sit here and pick holes or criticise businesses for making money. However, I feel there’s been a change in the attitude of the typical consumer. There seems to be less of a reluctance to pay more money for food. An example of this, which has shaken me to my core, is the emergence of Rosa Madre’s fresh pasta. I love Rosa Madre – I think it’s an excellent establishment serving authentic and classy Italian food. However, I recently saw that they are selling fresh pasta and the price sent my head spinning. A 500g bag of pappardelle will set you back €7.95. That’s insanity. My shock doesn’t entirely lie on the head of Rosa Madre, but on the people buying it. Fresh pasta is just flour and eggs. It is definitely cheaper for you to make a whole kilo of fresh pasta at home by yourself than buy this packet. I understand people are going to factor in the labour of it all but in a pandemic when the vast majority of the workforce are at home, who doesn’t have the time to mix some eggs and flour and roll it out?

I acknowledge that the quality of food and the volume of food being offered by restaurants is excellent value. Take for example the buzzing Clanbrassil House, headed up by Gráinne O’Keefe. They are currently offering snacks, starter, main and dessert for two people for €62, with the same offer available for one person for €34. This is incredible value. Typically, the set menu offer in normal times would run you €60 per person. This is where the aforementioned point of atmosphere comes into play. The difference in price is not just down to the extra at home steps but rather the cost of the service. Similarly, Allta are offering their dinner and provisions box for deceptively good value. €80 yields a loaf of freshly baked sourdough, their famous shiitake miso butter, an array of charcuterie, pasta for two, dessert, an extra treat for the day after and a wine pairing picked out by their resident sommelier. On the atmosphere, Allta need to be commended for the creation of their personalised Spotify playlist to accompany your meal as a subtle reminder of where you could be. Not only do they offer nationwide delivery, but using this service helps to support local businesses as much as possible. 

With the ever increasing availability of meal kits, it is entirely possible that we will see a shift in the restaurant scene in Dublin post-Covid. Perhaps there will be even more businesses focusing on meal kits as opposed to dining out or maybe the hype and availability of restaurant quality fare will encourage more people to sample more of what Dublin has to offer. Either way, a change is coming post-pandemic in one of Europe’s most dynamic food cities.