City of North Van Councillor Tony Valente, over a pasta dinner on Beach in the streeterie nearest the spinning chandelier, noted how Italians have their own version of the sidewalk and curbside patios so popular during Covid. But (of course) more innovative in their design, the Italians having had a millennia or two to work on the art of eating outdoors in an urban setting.
They’re really more like small enclosed rooms than outdoor spaces, no doubt more effective at dealing with noise, pollution and privacy that our current iterations.
They’re called dehors – and Tony sent along a sampling from Bologna:
Bologna is one of our favourite cities. Italy’s open dining under umbrellas is a total delight, with restaurants spilling onto public plazas. But… gotta say, these (so typically stylish) enclosures feel more like private intrusions into public space. It’s the feeling of separation from street life, the formality. To me, that belongs indoors, not on the street.
That looks like fully enclosed and isn’t really “outdoors”, much less great for COVID where you want to have air flow.
Having said that, some of the set-ups here are pretty bad, often because sitting right next to a lineup of cars isn’t all that great.