Outdoor Is the New Indoor

January is well-known for being a reset month. A time to recover from back-to-back holiday parties and festive gatherings. A time to act on resolutions and look ahead with great anticipation to all that is possible in the new year. In the restaurant business, this also means a dip in sales, but restaurateurs are mostly undaunted. It’s the perfect slow-down to tweak recipes and menus, do some deep cleaning, or consider fresh ways to change up the customer dining experience. But January 2020, though initially characteristic, became the start of a year that would deliver the longest “time-out” in history. One thing is for sure—the industry was not prepared for a pandemic. Fast-forward to June 2020—when restaurants should be evaluating returns on the fruits of their first and second quarter labor—and we see businesses focused on trying to resuscitate themselves from near demise, while also navigating new rules and precautions brought about by the enduring pandemic. For many…