RESTAURANT RELAUNCH: Designing the Post-Pandemic customer experience
COVID-19 has not only been the Restaurant industry’s greatest challenge to date, but has also given it an unprecedented opportunity to really sit back and rethink their entire relationship with F& B and their customers.
It is important to understand that people’s responses to dining in at restaurants and cafes have changed visibly post the pandemic – more and more people are opting for takeaway or ordering in. In this light, a relaunch or a rebranding of the restaurant’s existing strategies (in terms of the reconfiguring the spaces, Design of Restaurants, food menus, and various Interior design aspects) to work around the keywords being floated nowadays – ‘safety’, ‘physical distancing’, ‘immunity’ while ensuring that there is no compromise on the ‘comfort’ factor, is important.
‘Co-existence’ is the key:With the realization that restaurant spaces may not be used as often as before, an option that can be considered is transforming restaurants or cafes into multifunctional spaces – one that performs a certain role during the day and changes into another by the night, or maybe those that have multiple functions coexisting with each other. It is an opportune moment to consider collaborative efforts with other sectors that haven’t been explored previously, probably.
Will we adapt to a new way of marketing and communications, with the old ways of working seeming outdated, or will it simply snap back to business as usual? Will virtual events be the new normal? Undoubtedly the events and exhibitions industry is incredibly resilient, and our human need to interact and exchange information face-to-face will result in a recovery in time. However, the impact of Covid-19 will have changed how we work forever.
1. ‘Beauty’and bars: A good idea is to combine two types of comforts in a fun manner – having salon deals along with light food and drinks. During times when people are trying to avoid moving about too much, offering a combination of services in one place can attract customers. This kind of a concept could work well with a café, or even casual or fine-dining restaurant, where customers are willing to spend some time for leisure.
2. ‘Staged’ dinner: With physical distancing becoming a key-phrase, the already tightly-packed Back of House functions do not have a lot of space to expand. In that case, kitchen functions that need not necessarily need to take place behind closed doors, such as food preparation for specific dishes or even bartending could take place on an elevated platform, with the chef as a ‘performer’ on a ‘stage’, so that diners can see them. The Back of House can also thus be relieved of certain functions.
3. Karaoke bars/ restaurants: Taking inspiration from karaoke joints in East Asia, casual dining restaurants/bars could create individual pods with karaoke setups for small or large groups of people. Locating these around workplaces or universities could attract the target customers (young employees or students)meant for such joints.
4. Dinner and a show: Taking off from the karaoke joints concept, this could be extended to restaurants possibly creating a theatre-like experience, but with smaller groups of people. QSRs could also team up with drive-in theatres to create a similar experience.
5. Study circles-work cafés: Another popular East Asian format are study cafes.While colleges and schools across the country have shut down, students have been limited to the confines of their homes. Workspaces that combine study areas, a library and dining areas could work well to attract students who want to collaborate, especially when located around university areas.
6. Zero-waste restaurants: With the pandemic reaching a peak, the preference for disposable cutlery and tableware have increased manifold, and so has waste production. In such a scenario, restaurants can teame up with recycling organizations to have an in-house setup for recycling their single-use tableware and even food items to produce new cutlery could become an attractive theme for customers, while ensuring complete hygiene and safety.
7. Arts/ Handicrafts themed Cafes/ Restaurants – The lockdown has seen a steep rise in the number of independent/ home-grown artists and businesses operating out of their homes, whether they are related to the visual arts, culinary or music to name a few. Teaming up with such entrepreneurs could be beneficial to both parties – the independent businesspeople could get a boost while their work or performances could lend a unique flavour to the café/restaurants.
8. Automation in F&B: For restaurants or cafes that are willing to invest in automation for their business, can look into options for robots preparing specific dishes for the customers. These can be extended to even creating roadside kiosks for drinks or snacks where robots dole out cups of coffee or sandwiches to passers-by. In fact, Café X at San Francisco has already implemented a robot barista in their outlet – a customer just taps a button on a touch screen and watches the machine moving within the casing and manipulating surrounding devices to fulfill the order.
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