92- Hyper-personalised dining experiences
Honolulu-based restaurant-within-a-restaurant Table One has chef Vikram Garg call his guest a week in advance to discuss and prepare their personalised meal. Garg recalls one guest recounting an oyster po’boy eaten at an Irish bar in Portland. Garg then used all the information to reinterpret that experience.
UK chef Heston Blumenthal’s newly reopened Fat Duck restaurant takes personalisation to the next level. Diners are asked to submit information about themselves during the booking, allowing The Fat Duck to build diner profiles and tailor the meal to individual experiences. The menu is a map of the diner’s journey, which revolves around childhood feelings of adventure, discovery and curiosity. This may be the reason why the diner will not know what dish awaits them until they begin the journey. “Eating is a multisensory experience: what you touch, what you hear, what you smell and what you feel, who you are with all have an effect,” says Blumenthal. He triggers nostalgia to create a memorable dining journey and adds a personalised touch so the diner will walk away with lifelong memories of an experience tailored for them.
Why it’s interesting:
With a growing proportion of consumers at the upper end of the income spectrum now accustomed to being waited on hand and foot, brands need to navigate a world in which expectations of service and convenience are higher than ever.