Automats — restaurants that dispensed foods via a glorified vending machine — were before my time. But from what I’ve been able to divine from the Internet, what killed the concept was not the food, which was passable, but the cold and impersonal nature of the process.
Which is precisely why automats are now making a welcome return in various forms. Today we live in an age where many people prefer cold and impersonal transactions to the alternative. Ask yourself: Would you rather order something, say an item of apparel, online without human intervention or would you prefer to put yourself in the hands of customer service?
For those who chose the first option, there is Brooklyn Dumpling Shop. At Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, which has stores in Manhattan, Staten Island, New Jersey, and zip codes as far away as Texas, you order online or at an in-store kiosk, scan your barcode at the location, and watch as a locker containing your food opens. All that’s left for you to do is dig in.
Some readers may know Morfogen’s name from his involvement in Brooklyn Chop House, another state-of-the-art venture whose gimmick is the use of NFT as a trading medium.
The dumplings themselves are one-of-a-kind ranging in flavor profile from French onion soup to chicken parm to bacon cheeseburger and beyond.
See also…
- Another NFT Restaurant to Open in New York
- The Automat Makes a Return
- Taco Bell Opening an Automat in Times Square
