People enjoying the weather in Copenhagen by drinking outside of Stækooder, a bar that will have to comply with the new mandate.
Credit: Natalie Rocha
By Natalie Rocha and Oskar H. Sylvestersen
A majority in the Technical and Environmental Committee at City Hall is planning on passing a motion to ban outdoor dining after 10:00 pm Sunday through to Thursday while the current outdoor dining curfew is midnight.
Three specific blocks will be exempt from the mandate giving more populated and tourist-attracted neighborhoods the leeway to serve, these areas will be the Meatpacking District, Nyhavn, and the historic Metropolitan area surrounding city hall.
With the majority of Copenhagen businesses having to comply, what does it mean for restaurants who must follow the ordinance?
Daniel Hauksson, 31, Head Chef at restaurant Yaffa in the middle of a quaint square unexempted from the policy, hasn’t thought through his plans for what to do in the future. “Everyone was so against it, I thought they were just going to drop it,” said Hauksson.
But Yaffa isn’t the only business unprepared for the mandate. Longtime barkeeper at Cafe Stærkodder in Freetown Christiania, Frank, said the bar has no plans for change because they don’t believe it will work.
Both Frank and Haukkson stated that the late night liveliness keeps the spirit of the city alive, “there’s all this life on the street, I think people who want to ruin that for closing at 10 o’clock, is mad,” said Frank.
This story is for an audience in the city of San Francisco and could be published on www.sfgate.com/ under travel.