While driving around Santa Monica, I came across a nondescript storefront with Trejo’s (as in Danny Trejo) Doughnuts on the front, along with other restaurant names.
But wait. Trejo’s is in Hollywood…
I had discovered Colony Cooks, which is a Ghost kitchen that allows onsite customer dining. They have multiple pod/container units, while the front counter carries drinks.
Then I saw that they already have fully automated restaurants in China.
As with past technologies, maybe this should be viewed as increasing peoples’ choice rather than a threat to existing ways. For a certain kind of dining, there should always be the prestige of a Michelin starred restaurant, having it’s corps of chefs, sommeliers, and wait staff.
But with options for automation, a customer could eat at a place where the kitchen is fully automated, and interact with human waiters and waitresses. Why not have a lot more themed restaurants, if as the restauranteur you don’t have to take care of the culinary side of things? On the culinary side of things, a chef who is developing his or her own style of cuisine would be able to open an establishment without being concerned with the front of the house, having the serving and bussing being automated.
(photo credit: https://www.trejosdonuts.com/)
