Van Ness/Forest Hills restaurants try to put customers’ minds at ease in uneasy time

Part of the message Little Red Fox posted on Instagram on March 11.

Little Red Fox, Sfoglina and other local businesses are taking precautions to protect their staff and their customers. How can we protect them?

Some of DC’s biggest restaurateurs predicted in interviews with Washingtonian that the next two months at the very least will be tough, and that some restaurants will not make it.

Little Red Fox and the owner of Sfoglina updated customers yesterday about their plans and procedures, which include more frequent cleaning and in Sfoglina’s case, delivery. Little Red Fox is not accepting customers’ reusable coffee coffee cups at this time.

We will, no doubt, hear of more measures in the days and weeks to come.

From Little Red Fox:

Dear Fox Friends & Neighbors,

In order to provide you with the best cafe experience in these uncertain times, we have made a few precautionary changes to our service. Our number one priority is to protect the health and wellness of our staff, customers and community. In addition to other internal measures we’ve implemented, you’ll notice a few changes around the stores:

1. We will not be handling personal reusable cups from customers until further notice.
2. Our coffee fixings station will be behind the counter. Our baristas will provide milk, sugar and lids as needed. Please don’t be shy – we are here to help!
3. We’re providing wax paper squares to wrap your finger for touchscreen signing.
4. We’ve increased the frequency with which we are sanitizing all counters, tables, and all frequently touched surfaces.

Thank you for continuing to support us and our efforts to keep our community healthy!

From Sfoglina’s owner:

To our Dear Guests,

At Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants, the health and safety of our guests and team is paramount.

Please be assured that our teams are fully trained and committed to the strictest of sanitation guidelines. We have always taken these practices seriously, but considering the current concerns around public safety, we are increasing the frequency of our cleaning protocols and safety precautions across the board to exceed DC Health Department standards. Our employees are all briefed on frequent handwashing and know to stay at home if they are feeling ill. Fortunately, we are all healthy currently.

The safety of our extended family, our guests, and our team have always been of the utmost importance to us. We will continue to closely monitor this situation through both local and national health organizations, and our hearts go out to everyone currently affected by corona virus, particularly in Italy where restaurant operations are essentially ended until at least April 3.

Being here for our guests and community is our foremost commitment. Therefore, we have every intention of keeping our restaurants open for you now and in the future. If you can dine in our restaurants this month, we thank you very much for your loyalty and patronage. If you would prefer, please enjoy our delivery services from Sfoglina Van Ness, Sfoglina Downtown, Sfoglina Rosslyn, and Del Mar through Caviar.

Thank you for your support of Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants. We look forward to serving you!