This week, College confirmed that the Buttery would be reopening from August 10, on a phased basis.
Catering Manager, Moira O’Brien spoke to Trinity News to explain how the Buttery plans to operate after reopening.
O’Brien explained that the catering team are “looking forward to re-opening the doors of the Buttery on August 10, and between now and then the team will be working to give the restaurant a “thorough deep clean” and putting “all safety and social distancing measures needed” in place.
“Once we reopen in August for those customers who are permitted on site, we will for the first week or two operate a takeaway service only,” O’Brien continued. “We will serve our Lavazza coffees and teas along with other soft drinks and we will also have a range of grab and go sandwiches, bakery goods, snack items etc.”
The Buttery remained partially opened in the first few weeks of lockdown, to provide food for students staying in college accommodation.
O’Brien explained that once the restaurant is “up and running and keeping business levels under review” they will expand food offers to include hot meals and will offer limited seating for customers.
O’Brien added that they have “reset the tables” in the Buttery to comply with 2 metres social distancing.
O’Brien said: “This has obviously reduced our capacity considerably but we would hope that should the 2 metre rule be reduced to 1 metre that we can expand that capacity.”
Trinity has been closed since March 12 at 6pm, after government closure of all schools and universities to stop the spread of Covid-19.
Students and staff will not need to book tables, according to O’Brien. However, O’Brien explained that they will have a “catering staff member at the door to welcome everyone, monitor customer flow and capacity and to advise our customers of what is available”.
O’Brien said that the catering staff member will tell customers “how they will need to proceed throughout the Buttery”.
O’Brien said: “We have also over this period of shutdown been reviewing what our food offer will look like at the start of the next term and have some exciting ideas and dishes that we will be trialling between Aug 10 and Sept 28th when the students return and our revised food offer will come in to place.”
After September 28, which is the beginning of the Michaelmas term, the Buttery is expected to operate as normal, with social distancing measures in place.
“We hope to reopen our other catering outlets in line with business levels and customer requirements and we will confirm those details as it gets closer to that time,” O’Brien stated.
