Multi restaurant experiences and ghost kitchens are the way of the future
The hard work and adaptation of hospitality owners through the COVID-19 pandemic will continue long after the world has resumed its new normal.
The hospitality industry has been one of the most innovative over the last two years, leaving it in good stead to deal with new working arrangements for most Australians, including working from home arrangements.
Brookfield Properties vice-president Danny Poljak is well entrenched in these innovations, particularly through his multi-restaurant collaborations.
The new $2 billion Brookfield Place precinct above Sydney’s Wynyard Station is now host to a first-of-its-kind, four-in-one restaurant.
Behind the one kitchen that now cooks for four outlets is Hong Kong restaurateur Allan Lam, who operates several cafes and bakeries across the city.
Lam’s new four-pronged venture is PappaRich x Nene Chicken x Hokkaido Cheese Tart x Kurimu.
“It’s a game-changer,” he said. “Since opening, from my perspective, the customer average spend has gone up.”
The multi restaurant set up gives diners a similar experience in terms of available options and choice to dining at home.
Multi-venue kitchens are a common theme in Hong Kong.
“In Australia, in some instances, operators would carve a tenancy into four shops, but you’d be forced to have different staff with four different dishwashers and four cooking lines, which is just a logistical nightmare,” he said.
Combining restaurants follows a similar trend in commercial property, which Mr Poljak said would take the city by storm.
“I think you’ll see a lot more retailers innovating and trying to drive that experience and connection with customers,” Polijak said.
Having multiple venues pays homage to Wynyard station’s history.
“There used to be original refreshment rooms built in the 1930s here, and they make part of that inspiration, where we wanted to collaborate with retail tenants that cater to that diverse customer base, for office workers, city residents and those passing through,” he said.
Ghost kitchens
From multi-pronged restaurants to ghost kitchens, new trends are popping up everywhere.
Another trend this year is “ghost kitchens”, a popular front among delivery service providers.
“We’ve seen success stories from restaurant partners that have gone on to have online sales on Uber Eats where the virtual brand exceeds their primary restaurant,” an Uber spokesperson said.
Ghost kitchens are ideal to test new ideas before committing to them.
“Delivery-only kitchens are a unique and efficient way existing restaurants can creatively test whether a new range, cuisine type or dish has a product market fit,” Uber’s spokesperson said.
“In other instances, restaurant partners have been so delighted by the online response that they have scoped building an additional physical storefront for their digital offering to capture foot-traffic as well as online orders.”
Irit Jackson, 22nd March 2022
