Noren

Noren are traditional Japanese fabric dividers, hung between rooms, on walls, in doorways, or in windows. They usually have one or more vertical slits cut from the bottom to nearly the top of the fabric, allowing for easier passage. Noren are rectangular and come in many different materials, sizes, colors, and patterns. Noren signify that the establishment is open for business, and they are always taken down at the end of the working day.

Noren are traditionally used by shops and restaurants as a means of protection from sun, wind, and dust, and for advertising space. The downside is that they mean you can't always see into the restaurant and so it was third time lucky this evening. The first was empty (never a good sign!) whilst the second was heaving!

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
Virginia Woolf