High-end restaurants turn to high-tech iPad apps
Source: Agencies |
January 5, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE bar is buzzing on a busy night at Chicago Cut steakhouse as regulars Keith and Peg Bragg sit at a table scanning the wine list.
Within seconds, they have all -bottles under US$40 at their -fingertips using an iPad supplied by their server.
"You can very quickly look through to see the price per bottle," said Keith, a finance executive, as he scrolled through rows of selections. "You can read the wine-tasting note, how long it has been aged."
The upscale eatery on the northern bank of the Chicago River has invested in 40 iPads at about US$700 each for wine selection. Since last April, when Apple debuted the tablet, the device has been in use as a full menu at upscale restaurants, hamburger eateries and quick-service chains. Restaurateurs have said that's just the beginning.
Chicago Cut partnered with a technology firm to create a custom app that looks like a virtual wine cellar. It lists the restaurant's more than 750 wines, includes photos of bottles on wooden shelves and allows for searches based on variety, price or region of origin. Diners can also access information about a wine's taste, composition and a Google map of the vineyard.
"Eventually the bottle is going to spin around and you can read the back label," said Chicago Cut managing partner Matt Moore. In the future, programmers could add video or let customers email themselves the name of a favorite wine.
Technology is becoming increasingly important to restaurants and tabletop ordering devices only stand to multiply, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at the -Chicago-based restaurant consulting firm Technomic.
"It's cool and trendy and kids love it," he said. "It paves the way for other opportunities with applications."
The tablets are arriving on the travel circuit, too. OTG Management has installed more than 200 iPads loaded with menus at gates in New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, allowing travelers to order salads and sandwiches while they wait for flights. A waiter brings the food and diners can pay via the iPad or in cash to the server.
"I think eventually a significant number of restaurants will just use iPads for their menus," said OTG chief executive officer Rick Blatstein. "We're starting out using hundreds of them and I expect it to be thousands in the future."
Within seconds, they have all -bottles under US$40 at their -fingertips using an iPad supplied by their server.
"You can very quickly look through to see the price per bottle," said Keith, a finance executive, as he scrolled through rows of selections. "You can read the wine-tasting note, how long it has been aged."
The upscale eatery on the northern bank of the Chicago River has invested in 40 iPads at about US$700 each for wine selection. Since last April, when Apple debuted the tablet, the device has been in use as a full menu at upscale restaurants, hamburger eateries and quick-service chains. Restaurateurs have said that's just the beginning.
Chicago Cut partnered with a technology firm to create a custom app that looks like a virtual wine cellar. It lists the restaurant's more than 750 wines, includes photos of bottles on wooden shelves and allows for searches based on variety, price or region of origin. Diners can also access information about a wine's taste, composition and a Google map of the vineyard.
"Eventually the bottle is going to spin around and you can read the back label," said Chicago Cut managing partner Matt Moore. In the future, programmers could add video or let customers email themselves the name of a favorite wine.
Technology is becoming increasingly important to restaurants and tabletop ordering devices only stand to multiply, said Darren Tristano, executive vice president at the -Chicago-based restaurant consulting firm Technomic.
"It's cool and trendy and kids love it," he said. "It paves the way for other opportunities with applications."
The tablets are arriving on the travel circuit, too. OTG Management has installed more than 200 iPads loaded with menus at gates in New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, allowing travelers to order salads and sandwiches while they wait for flights. A waiter brings the food and diners can pay via the iPad or in cash to the server.
"I think eventually a significant number of restaurants will just use iPads for their menus," said OTG chief executive officer Rick Blatstein. "We're starting out using hundreds of them and I expect it to be thousands in the future."
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