2020 has been a year full of changes, and for the food and beverage business, those changes seem to happen almost every day. To navigate precarious times such as these, there have been establishments all around the Greater Philadelphia area who have taken steps to figure out just how to function while keeping their patrons and employees healthy.
For the Aldo Lamberti Family of Restaurants, including Caffe Aldo Lamberti in Cherry Hill and Positano Coast in Old City, these changes have brought on a whole new way of health screening—something that most eateries haven’t implemented quite yet, but could be the new normal in the future. The innovation comes with the added bonus of allowing both establishments’ expanded outdoor dining spaces to operate during a pandemic.
“Safety for staff and patrons is our number one priority,” said owner Aldo Lamberti in a statement. “It is important that our guests feel safe when they dine with us. Guest satisfaction has also been one of our greatest achievements and we are not going to spare any resource to ensure this continues. We also want to replicate the same top-notch service, excellent food and look/feel of our lovely spaces so that our outdoor dining experience is the next best thing to dining inside. We additionally, want to create secluded spaces that are an oasis and transport you out of the city and away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Life is complicated and hard right now and for guests that honor us by choosing to dine with us, they deserve the very best.”
According to the release, Caffe Aldo Lamberti is the very first restaurant in the region to invest in a Thermal Body Imaging Camera System. How that works: When patrons check in to dine they are first scanned with the special technology before they get to the host stand, and then the system checks their temperatures and lets the hosts affirm that customers can proceed with check-in. Both the hosts and guests can see just what their temperature is after being screened as well. Additionally, Caffe Aldo Lamberti has also worked for three months to debut flower and grapevine donned parklets and new outdoor dining spaces that seat up to 100 diners.
In addition, the establishment is also working on a major extension to seat around another two dozen patrons as well.
The new deck area at Caffe Aldo Lamberti is located directly adjacent to the restaurant. The construction on this new outside seating area began as soon as the global pandemic hit, and is ready to seat 30-40 guests, who will be surrounded by the lush green area that includes palm trees and elephant ears, which were all individually picked out by Lamberti himself with help from Botanical Lighting in Medford.
The release states, the Patio at Caffe Aldo Lamberti offers shaded and colorful seating for up to 36 patrons, with decor that features lush plants, colorful flowers, bright oversized umbrellas and a centerpiece of the relaxing water feature cascading in the middle. As an extra special bonus, the underutilized Cigar Table was added back to the mix and featured for customers wanting a more private dining experience. This special area seats up to eight and features shade from grapevines, and Lamberti himself added, “The Cigar Table is a hit with larger families who want their privacy. It is dozens of feet away from all other seating and it’s truly something special.”
While dining at Caffe Aldo Lamberti, guests can indulge in their modern Italian and fresh seafood fare with some highlighted dishes including grilled Alaskan king crab legs, wild Alaskan salmon, sweet potato gnocchi, risotto and ravioli of the day, veal marsala, pan-seared scallops, their signature crab cake and much more. Patrons can also check out the establishment for curbside pick-up where they can get lunch, dinner or even happy-hour to go.
Over in the Old City District, Positano Coast will be manually checking temperatures and has also expanded and debuted new outdoor seating that now includes colorful sidewalk seating, parklet seating, plus additional outdoor cafe seating that can host up to 100 guests. While there, Philadelphians can indulge in brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner with some stand-out menu items including mini cannolis, a lobster skillet, lamb meatballs, tuna tartare, pork chop milanese and much more.
According to the release, for both properties, additional safety protocols include mandatory use of masks, staff temperature checks on top of the Thermal Body Imaging in Cherry Hill and manual checks in Old City, ample hand sanitizer stations, one-way paths in and out of the rear patio, implementation of QR code menus, as well as other protocols. For reservations and information about Caffe Aldo Lamberti, call 856-663-1747 or visit caffelamberti.com and for reservations and information about new seating at Positano Coast, call 215-238-0499 or visit positanocoast.net
