The waiter at a chic Dubai restaurant wears a face mask and gloves, pours the wine into plastic cups and serves the steaks on paper plates with disposable cutlery.

As the pandemic lockdown eases in Dubai, its world-class tourism industry is charting a gradual comeback — but the new normal has taken a toll on the city’s “wow” factor.

Tables at the usually buzzing French bistro and bar, set among gleaming skyscrapers and long popular for its food and daily happy hours, are now set two metres (six feet) apart.