Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Wednesday Wishlist: High-Tech Dining

Since we're in the middle of Silicon Valley, it would only make sense to see a little bit more tech incorporated into at least a few restaurants. I think we should be at the cutting edge of innovations in dining tech. A great example of a restaurant that blew my mind in London is called Inamo. 

Above each pair of seats is a projector and each table has little touch-pads in the corner. You use the pad to order all of your food, request drinks, pay for the meal, customize the background of the table, and even do things like play video games or view a subway map highlighting bars and nightclubs to go after your meal. As you're flipping through the menu, a picture of the food you are thinking about ordering is shown on your plate... pretty damn cool. You can even pull up a video screen of the kitchen to watch the chef make your meal. This was one of the most innovative restaurant concepts I have ever seen, and the tech really isn't that complex. 

I would love to see new concepts like this in San Jose that better incorporate technology into dining and innovate on the whole experience. While food has evolved over time, the dining experience itself is not much different than it was decades ago. Inamo really took it to the next level, and I'm hoping some aspiring restauranteurs try to one-up them in the valley.


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