As I kicked into writing again, I started asking people to share stories about how their favorite restaurants were being creative during the pandemic. There’s been a lot of cool stuff I’ve heard or come across by reading various news and social media outlets, some of which I’ve already written about and others to come.

One recent anecdote that made me go “WOW” came from a colleague who lives in the West Village. On a recent adventure to safely secure a sushi dinner to go, he entered Miyabi Sushi and encountered this!

As my colleague so poignantly states, “legit impressed.” There’s so much going on here:

• Unique. Someone, please tell me if you’ve seen a structure like this built at another restaurant. I’ve seen nothing even close.
• Design focused. This is thoughtfully designed, aesthetically pleasing and highly functional. Note how only one side of the cabinet opens at a time. Always pay attention to the details.
• Safety first. This approach is completely contactless, takes precautions for both staff and patrons and you’ve got the hand sanitizer.
• …I mean. …they built this! With everything going on, the Miyabi owners put their design hats on and built something that enables them to operate more effectively in a chaotic and scary time.

Kudos! Thank you to my colleague for bringing this to light. I hope to see more innovation like this and hear other people’s neighborhood restaurant stories as the pandemic progresses.