CELEBRITY chef JP McMahon has blasted Galway City Council for placing two clunky concrete slabs in the middle of his restaurant’s outdoor dining area.
The restaurant on Dominick Street in Galway, Anair, could accommodate eight guests and may now only be able to seat 4, the restaurateur said on Twitter.
The unsightly slabs were placed there by the council without any warning, he said, and will likely halve the seating capacity of the Michelin star venue.
Mr McMahon tweeted: "So this is Dominic street this morning. This was our only seating area.
“Now @GalwayCityCo have left two huge concrete slabs in it. No dialogue. No imagination.
“We had space for 8 seats, now we may have 4. So angry we can’t even put our our wind breakers.”
According to the Irish Mirror, one user replied to Mr McMahon’s tweet saying, “Jesus what use are they? Is there no end to this”.
Mr McMahon replied that the cement slabs were "seemingly to stop cars from driving into outside seats. Surely there is a better solution."
The prominent chef, author, and culinary director of the EatGalway Restaurant Group, which comprises Aniar, Cava Bodega and Eat Gastropub, has called on Galway County Council to come up with a better solution to ensuring adherence to social distancing while helping restaurant owners to utilise the space they have.
Arriving at a compromise will be especially important over the coming weeks before hospitality venues can serve customers inside from July 5.
