Missing customers, Belgian restaurateur serves mannequins
Mannequins with balloon heads representing customers sit on chairs in a closed restaurant in Rixensart
RIXENSART, Belgium: A Belgian restaurant owner near Brussels says she misses her customers so much since her restaurant was forced to close last October under coronavirus laws, she has replaced them with mannequins.
Therese Mahieu began serving glasses of red wine to dummies with wigs, hats and scarves sitting at the bar this week in protest against Belgium's COVID-19 measures.
The dummies, made of balloons, give her a sense of community that has been lost at restaurant Chez Therese in the town of Rixensart, in Brussels' commuter belt, since clientele were barred from entering to prevent COVID-19 infections.
While Belgium has yet to see a surging third wave of coronavirus cases, the home of the European Union and NATO has one of the world's highest per capita COVID-19 death tolls.
(Reporting by Johanna Geron; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
