The first restaurant in the Netherlands to be controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) will open in Eindhoven next month. There is no menu in this restaurant, but an AI assistant who decides for her what she is going to eat. Comedienne Christel de Laat tried it out for us. “I don’t understand artificial intelligence at all. As long as it tastes good.” She was pleasantly surprised.
Upon arrival, a host or hostess is not immediately available. “Normally there is someone there and that can sometimes irritate me.” A code appears on a screen at the entrance of the new restaurant Bunkr. Christel has to scan it with her mobile phone.
“The table we have reserved for you will light up at any moment”, it sounds from a speaker. And yes: one table is highlighted and she can sit there. “It does something to you. It’s different than usual,” she responds.
Then there is only the first contact with staff. Someone explains the app that belongs to the restaurant. That app asks a number of questions. Based on the answers, the app suggests what Christel is going to eat tonight. A surprise menu. It is very stimulating.”
“I like the hocus pocus.”
“I would like a meat starter. No game, no organ. And I’m allergic to caviar,” says Christel. Not much later, the app comes up with a proposal: steak tartare. “Tasty. Go ahead. And also something to drink without alcohol”, she orders.
It all still feels a bit weird. “Normally I scan the menu. Now I just get a suggestion. Like me our mother with me,” she says.
Robin Vromans (30) is the inventor and co-owner of the AI restaurant. Artificial intelligence takes a lot of work off your staff. “Normally, a host asks what you like and what you don’t like. Now the robot listens to your wishes.”
Meanwhile, Christel has eaten a dish of 3D-printed vegetable meat. Then comes the steak tartare with an alcohol-free gin and tonic. “I like the hocus pocus. How does he know I like raw meat? And what a delicious mocktail. “
“It’s a big eight.”
According to creator Vromans, there will be even better proposals in the future. “With every answer, artificial intelligence learns better and better how to make a good proposal. In half a year, when the model is better trained and gets to know our guests better, you may be presented with something different than now. While you may give the same answers.”
This may well be a solution for the staff shortage. “The knowledge that normally resides in a seasoned host is now in the technology. A student who wants to come and work here no longer has to learn everything about wine. We are looking for very social characters who will help people with AI.”
Christel is satisfied. “It’s a big eight because it’s so surprising. And it’s personal anyway because someone comes to your table. You have to be able to work with such an app a little bit. You will be helped, but it may be quite complicated for the elderly. I wonder how that will be.”
