AI creates new restaurant experiences
It seems ChatGPT isn’t just for writing tasks. Artificial Intelligence is now being used to create dining experiences.
Luminary will be Australia’s first AI-generated pop-up restaurant, residing at hatted North Sydney restaurant Rafi for one week from July 29.
The experience is the brainchild of Perth woman Stefanie Wee, who used ChatGPT and Canva AI Image Generator to create the concept for Rafi owner and Sydney hospitality group, Applejack as part of nationwide competition.
Wee has generated the menus, lighting and interior design, which will be adapted into a restaurant experience themed around “the art of illumination”.
It will incorporate sustainable drinks and dishes inspired by the elements of water, earth, fire and air.
Wee used ChatGPT prompts to render images in Canva.
“We wanted entrants to experiment with artificial intelligence, to see whether it could create a restaurant concept so good it could stand on its own, or whether it would need a human touch,” Applejack director of marketing and partnerships Joanna Steuart told Good Food.
“[Wee’s] submission went into a lot of detail, from the name of the restaurant and its brand story, to the trending types of lights to install and where, to the different menu options that would add to the theme of illumination.”
Steuart says the success of light and music festival Vivid Sydney drew Applejack to the concept.
“We thought the concept was cool,” she said.
“There’s been a big rise in immersive dining experiences using light and technology, and we considered it a challenge to figure out how to change Rafi’s dishes to add an aspect of illumination.
“AI is a tool you can use to assist with ideation and creation, but I don’t think it will ever overtake chefs, who are so talented when it comes to knowing what flavours to pair together.”
The themed menus were put together by Wee, along with group beverage manager Joe Worthington and head of culinary Patrick Friesen.
The dishes will incorporate molecular techniques, dry ice and iridescent oils to hit each elemental note of the AI brief.
Dishes will use locally sourced ingredients including scallop with ponzu, sea grapes and caper leaves, and tuna with tomato, tahini and iridescent chilli oil; charcoal-cooked dishes such as the bioluminescent calamari and black pudding; and grilled lamb backstrap with mint salsa verde and quince mostarda.
The AI trend is growing in the hospitality sector.
Service robots including Dinerbot by Keenon Robotics is being used at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, while BellaBot by Pudu Robotics can be used at Casa Ristorante Italiano in Sydney’s CBD.
OpenTable in the US has partnered with ChatGPT to provide tailored restaurant recommendations.
“We started using AI in the office to experiment with how it could help our workflow and make us more efficient,” Steuart told Good Food.
“We were just blown away by what it was capable of.
“But at the end of the day, in creating this pop-up event we really needed humans to trial the recipes, look into the different options, and bring the concept to life. AI is developing at a rapid rate, but people are still needed to connect it to the human experience.”
Jonathan Jackson, 17th July 2023
