Future Restaurant- A Vision for Success *

I think restaurants in the future will be a cross between a restaurant with constrained seating, and a significant emphasis on take-out from a walk-up counter or window and the classic ‘bodega’ or corner grocery store. It will have more pre-packaged foods, both ready to serve from hot merchandising cases and clam shell take out containers for later consumption.

For years the grocery trade has been moving into restaurant-style service with hot buffets, sandwiches and salad merchandising, roasted chickens to take home, and immediately consume. Now, quite the reverse will be happening in the restaurant setting. They will begin to offer more retail packaged grocery items along with a menu for limited seated dining.

Products restaurants would have on hand will become retail items. Because they buy in bulk, they now house package flours and grains, rice in small bags, and containers. Frozen and fresh vegetables will also be available regularly. Food-related retail items, including small kitchen items, like coffee makers, knives, glassware, may be stocked in limited quantities. Think as if you are in a neighborhood where you have a corner grocer. Where you occasionally shopped for a quick daily meal, you can now do the same at your local restaurant. You have just invited a few friends over and realize you have only one decent wine glass and no good fresh salad making items in your refrigerator. You stop into your local restaurant and pick up some salads, an entrée you need to slip into a warm oven at home, as well as a couple of new wine glasses, and a bottle of wine.

I think of the infamous Mediterranean Market in Carmel, CA, in which I was involved after the extensive remodeling in 1996. Evolving out of one of the first gourmet grocers on the Monterey Peninsula in the ’60s, after its reinvigoration, we not only sold gourmet groceries, along with deli cut meats and cheeses. We also made sandwiches and salads, merchandised for home-meal consumption, had a wine room, and other food-related retail, like picnic baskets, cookbooks, fresh coffee, Illy espresso, and everything related to food.

Restaurants will go through significant changes in the next year, while we fight through this Pandemic. I think there is a melding of the grocery and food-service we all in the trade need to take a vastly different approach to if as food-service changes are inevitable.

• This was written at the start of the Pandemic in May 2020. Even though many things have return to pre-Covid days, many of the concepts, I believe herein are valid as the food service industry adapts to new demands, restraints, and overall improvement in offering options for guests. Comments are welcome.
• ( dbtown@att.net ) or visit my site: www.dbtownsend.com