In the restaurant of the future, robots serve the dishes. Only astronaut food ends up on the plate. Customers pay via eye sensors. At least, that is what you would believe if you watch movies.
But GALA knows what gastronomy in the future actually looks like.
Based on scientific studies and social trends. This ensures you bring your restaurant onto the success track for the year 2033 right now.
What does the restaurant of the future look like?
Don't panic: you do not have to completely throw your concept overboard. Your restaurant can also be transformed into a restaurant of the future. Because it will fulfill its purpose in 2033 just as it does today or did one hundred years ago: people come together to enjoy.
However, some megatrends are also influencing the gastronomy of tomorrow. GALA presents them here.
Interior architecture relieves skilled workers
Fewer and fewer people want to work in service. Consequently, restaurateurs are fighting even harder for the few available workers: with higher salaries or more flexible working hours.
But: especially younger generations want more than just hard facts.
They are looking for a workplace where they feel comfortable. One that relieves them (with digital help), where they can relax (in a break room), and where no work step costs unnecessary strength (through clever processes).
Therefore, the interior design of your restaurant becomes a recruiting factor: it decides how effectively your team can work and recover.
The floor space is shifting
Have you been making more and more revenue with deliveries in recent years? Then prepare for this trend to increase.
This is reflected in the footprint of your premises: the more food you deliver, the more space the kitchen needs. If you cannot move into a larger property, this might even come at the expense of the guest room.
Therefore, ask yourself today: does the distribution of your areas match your economic reality?
The guest area is more social
While we are on the subject of the guest area: this too is adapting to modern consumer behavior.
Because eating out is increasingly becoming a lifestyle. This has two consequences:
People come in larger groups. We work in home offices, participate in e-sports, and stream movies instead of going to the cinema. This makes the restaurant even more important as one of the last social meeting points. It is therefore time for more and larger group tables. Guests like to stay longer. Instead of disappearing after dessert, guests look for a place to linger: first a drink at the bar, then a fixed table, and finally letting the evening end comfortably in the lounge.
The aesthetics are shareable
In the digital age, most guests become aware of venues through the internet: especially through photos from friends and influencers on social media.
That is why the potential to go viral is also part of the gastronomy concept of the future.
This begins with a beautifully arranged plate, of which guests first take a snapshot. But it goes even further: the interior architecture, even the entire idea of the shop, must tell a story that spreads well online. "The Neapolitan living room: right in Zurich" or "the first Swiss plant-based restaurant."
Individual options serve every taste
Whether vegetarian, vegan, halal, kosher, gluten-free, or high-protein: one of the most important restaurant trends is the tendency toward individualization. Every person wants to live out their taste, and restaurants must provide the possibilities.
The menu must therefore offer alternatives. With ingredients that guests can select or deselect, buffets, or at least references to the mentioned options.
Hygiene remains important even after the pandemic
A new need for cleanliness is anchored in our minds. We no longer want to sit close together: partitions that stop germs now belong between narrow tables.
Disinfection devices count just as much as touchless terminals, whether at the checkout or in the restroom.
One future prospect is called sustainability
Let’s keep it short: the waste of resources no longer has a place on the plate in the restaurant of the future.
Avoid single-use plastics, for example, by using reusable containers for deliveries.
Reduce leftovers through the right portion size or in cooperation with recyclers.
Offer customers a regional, seasonal, and vegetarian or vegan selection.
By the way: healthy nutrition is also part of this future trend. More and more people are voluntarily giving up alcohol, additives, or sugar: you should also consider this when putting together your menu.
Digitalization simplifies processes
Last but not least, there is no surprise: by 2033, digitalization will have arrived in every restaurant.
- Tables are reserved and managed online.
- Guests order at the counter or via smartphone.
- Payments are processed by card or smartphone.
Are robots eventually replacing human workers? Quite the opposite! In the restaurant of the future, the digital infrastructure complements the team so that your staff has more time for social contact: talking to guests and providing personal service. Meanwhile, the virtual assistants ensure in the background that all processes run smoothly.
2 examples of the gastronomy of the future
Some restaurants are already implementing the trends of tomorrow today. GALA presents two of them.
McDonalds
In 2018, McDonalds Germany launched its new "Restaurant of the Future" concept. Since then, hundreds of branches have been remodeled: self-service stations, ordering and payment via app, and in some restaurants, even table service.
McDonald's branch with digital terminals.
Negishi Winterthur
In Winterthur, we were allowed to plan and implement the sushi restaurant / take away Negishi. Mitten in the station, guests find an authentic Japanese world here: the venue tells a story. Digital terminals and a well-thought-out process speed up operations, which particularly pleases stressed travelers.
How do you implement the new concepts right now?
The most important thing is a strategy: what story do you want to express with your venue, and how do the trends support that? We would be happy to work together to develop a concept to make your restaurant the flagship of the gastronomy of the future.
Turn your menu into interior architecture