NYC Will Soon Be Home To 15 Robot-Run Vegetarian Restaurants From Chipotle's Founder (eater.com) 60
The founder of Chipotle is opening a new endeavor called Kernel, a vegetarian fast-casual restaurant that will be operated mostly by robots. Steve Ells is opening at least 15 locations of Kernel, the first by early 2024; the remainder are on track for NYC in the next two years, a spokesperson confirms. From a report: Kernel will serve vegetarian sandwiches, salads, and sides, made in a space that's around 1,000 square-feet or smaller. Each location would employ three workers, the Wall Street Journal reported, "rather than the dozen that many fast-casual eateries have working." The menu pricing will be on par with Chipotle's, and, Ells says, the company will pay more and offer better benefits for actual humans working than other chains.
As you'd expect from the former CEO of Chipotle -- which had at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018, costing the company $25 million per the Justice Department -- "the new system's design helps better ensure food safety," Ells told the Journal. It has taken $10 million in his personal funds to start Kernel, along with $36 million from investors. The company suggests customers may not want much interaction with other people -- and neither do CEOs. "We've taken a lot of human interaction out of the process and left just enough," he told the Journal. Yet in a 2022 study on the future of dining out conducted by commerce site, PYMNTS, of 2,500 people surveyed, 63 percent of diners believe restaurants are becoming increasingly understaffed, and 39 percent said that they are becoming less personal.
As you'd expect from the former CEO of Chipotle -- which had at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018, costing the company $25 million per the Justice Department -- "the new system's design helps better ensure food safety," Ells told the Journal. It has taken $10 million in his personal funds to start Kernel, along with $36 million from investors. The company suggests customers may not want much interaction with other people -- and neither do CEOs. "We've taken a lot of human interaction out of the process and left just enough," he told the Journal. Yet in a 2022 study on the future of dining out conducted by commerce site, PYMNTS, of 2,500 people surveyed, 63 percent of diners believe restaurants are becoming increasingly understaffed, and 39 percent said that they are becoming less personal.
Tipping (Score:5, Funny)
Remember to tip your robot waiter to help put it through robot college.
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But what if I get robot norovirus from the food?
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But what if I get robot norovirus from the food?
You joke, but this is the insanity of actually believing that robot-processed food, somehow means "safer".
When you look at the causes of foodborne illnesses, ironically it's all that shit that humans die from. "Human workers" is mysteriously absent from the list.
Nevermind the fact that you can't even visit a CAFO. You know, because 'special sauce'...
To the contrary (Score:2)
To the contrary, if you actually read the reports, human workers are the number 1 cause of the unsafe conditions that lead to illness.
The source. (Score:2)
To the contrary, if you actually read the reports, human workers are the number 1 cause of the unsafe conditions that lead to illness.
My point is we cannot simply dismiss the source. If I'm ordering a salad and the source is contaminated, then it's not really going to matter who or what serves that bad root cause to me. It could be served by a waiter at a restaurant, or it could have been auto-bot packaged into a plastic container bought off the shelf. Either way, bad food is bad.
We eat a lot of raw food that can easily be contaminated from the source who provided it. Happens all the time actually. Unsafe conditions certainly do play
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For real. Every Chipotle in my area is terrible. It's been years since I stepped foot in one and judging by the latest reviews it's only getting worse. In fact they've opened up new location and after six months it has a review of 2.2 out of 5 on google.
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Chipotle? As Yogi Berra said, nobody ever goes there any more -- it's too crowded.
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For real. Every Chipotle in my area is terrible.
It depends on the management. There's a few of them in my area and annoyingly, the closest one is run by an idiot and staffed by teenagers who just want to play on their phones and collect a paycheck. Went in there one time because I didn't feel like making the trip to the better one and saw that the steaks being cooked were literally on fire, while the kid doing the cooking was just staring at his phone.
I guess some people are okay with charcoal tacos, but I'd rather spend my hard-earned money on food wh
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At least you know its been cooked well enough to kill microbes.
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Remember to tip your robot waiter to help put it through robot college.
Robot House! [youtube.com]
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Why can't they just give robots a living wage?
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So rather than correct the human factors... (Score:3)
...to allow for a menu with a large amount of selection, they're instead opting to reduce the menu to things that don't require a human to prepare them.
Which means that instead of learning the lessons of things like sanitary operating procedures, offering actual sick leave to employees so they not only have the option to not work when sick, but are comfortable knowing that they won't be penalized, and otherwise ensuring good food handling, they're just throwing out the human element for machine-cooked.
Which means at some point this reduction becomes a race to the bottom. At some point to save costs, the 'restaurant' will start par-cooking in large central kitchens and freezing for distribution, with only final cooking happening in the points of distribution. At that stage one might as well just get higher-end TV dinners and eat at home.
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Re:So rather than correct the human factors... (Score:4, Insightful)
Automats were popular from the 40s-50s because there was no interaction and it was instant gratification. There were, however, people behind the scenes preparing the food.
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You can meet somebody at a checkout and end up in a friendship or more. You're not going to go date a self-checkout scanner.
I'm guessing you haven't worked a service industry job. Most people find it pretty creepy when they get hit on by customers, especially if they're already married or in a committed relationship. Don't be that guy.
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Re:So rather than correct the human factors... (Score:4, Informative)
Ford borne illness rarely comes about from people not taking sick leave. Most of the time it's from inappropriate prep of food contaminated at the farm by animals or by asymptomatic carriers of disease -- salmonella (which is by far the number one cause of food borne deaths) for example can be spread by asymptomatic carriers. Food borne illness spread by ill/symptomatic people preparing food is rare .. because if you get to the symptomatic stage of salmonella or norovirus there's almost no way you can work. If you look at the reports of many of the outbreaks it was caused by inappropriate prep. If you see the FDA website on food safety nearly all of it is saying prepare the food correctly. .. none of it is saying don't prep food if you're ill. Also see that it focuses on proper cooking and washing of food. Reference: https://www.foodsafety.gov/kee... [foodsafety.gov]
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Most of the processed food arriving at restaurants in the first place is already going through mechanized systems.
Machine cooking was coming one way or another (Score:1)
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Which means at some point this reduction becomes a race to the bottom.
What do you mean "at some point"? Fast food chains have always been a race to the bottom from their inception. No one goes to Chipotle (or I suspect any place related to the person who created Chipotle) for fine dining. They go for bare minimum sustenance in the shortest time at the lowest cost with a hope to dear god that they don't end up violently crapping at an inopportune moment.
There is a place for this in the world. But as soon as my local family owned Italian pizzeria replaces their stone oven and h
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...to allow for a menu with a large amount of selection, they're instead opting to reduce the menu to things that don't require a human to prepare them.
Which means that instead of learning the lessons of things like sanitary operating procedures, offering actual sick leave to employees so they not only have the option to not work when sick, but are comfortable knowing that they won't be penalized, and otherwise ensuring good food handling, they're just throwing out the human element for machine-cooked.
Which means at some point this reduction becomes a race to the bottom. At some point to save costs, the 'restaurant' will start par-cooking in large central kitchens and freezing for distribution, with only final cooking happening in the points of distribution. At that stage one might as well just get higher-end TV dinners and eat at home.
So basically it's a vending machine with seating.
I Don't think this will catch on Big (Score:3)
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Yes. You are either seeking to just cram something in your mouth asap, like while on the road, or you are looking for the experience. Then you want people, atmosphere, etc.
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Not me, though. If I go, I want to try something good and different from than I usually cook. I don't care for other people and the atmosphere, just for the actual food. Has to be good or, at the very least, interesting.
It will be interesting to see what happens (Score:2)
It seems obvious that robotic food prep will eventually be perfected, but current implementations seem crude and very preliminary
It may be a publicity stunt to cash in on the AI hype, or a genuine attempt to advance the tech
If I had to place a bet, I would bet on failure
But, in the long term, success will be achieved, after lots of failures
Like self-driving cars, the problem is harder than the optimistic supporters realize
People need jobs. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll pass on supporting robots.
Re:People need jobs. (Score:5, Insightful)
No, they don't need repetitive mindless and under-appreciated jobs. What they need is money. We should automate and tax the robots the equivalent of a paycheck and use that to provide basic income with which you can watch Netflix, get education, hang out at the gym (if you like repetitive work), or splurge on Amazon. Note, if you notice .. wealthy or retired people don't work but still have money. That's because they own assets that generate profits. If a robot replaces you and you get its "paycheck" what's the problem? The store owner would rather pay a salary equivalent in taxes than hire an unreliable human who might sue them for OSHA violations. If either way the store owner would lose equal amounts of money, they'd choose robot + taxes than human + salary. And by the way, with automation and healthy competition things will get cheaper and more plentiful therefore even smaller basic income would go a long way.
Re:People need jobs. (Score:5, Insightful)
Note, if you notice .. wealthy or retired people don't work but still have money. That's because they own assets that generate profits.
It certainly may not seem fair for rich folks to sit on their asses while their assets go to work for them, but they're providing something society perceives as valuable and in return are rewarded as the market sees fit. As for a retired person, they made their contribution to society back when they were working.
I know some people really want that whole Star Trek post-scarcity economy thing, but even that was a farce as depicted in Star Trek. If I could have all of my needs met for free, fuck your shipyard labor job unless it provides the means to earn something I can't get from a replicator - like maybe my own ship. Therein lies the crux of the problem - until you can completely eliminate the need for all human labor, incentivizing people to sit on their ass and do nothing is just going to raise the cost of labor for the remaining jobs which still require humans.
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incentivizing people to sit on their ass and do nothing is just going to raise the cost of labor for the remaining jobs which still require humans.
So what? Why is that bad? There’ll be rewards and money for that.
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I'll pass on supporting robots.
Oh boy. Wait until you hear about how many products are manufactured today.
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No one goes to a fast food place to support anything other than their own bare minimum sustenance. You're not taking a moral high ground here.
all the rage (Score:2)
"As You'd Expect" (Score:2)
'As you'd expect from the former CEO of Chipotle -- which had at least five foodborne illness outbreaks between 2015 and 2018, costing the company $25 million per the Justice Department -- "the new system's design helps better ensure food safety," Ells told the Journal.'
Actually, given Chipotle's less-than-stellar track record while under Ells' watch - that's not what I expect at all.
What will he call them? (Score:2)
Ecolibots!
Let me see if I have this right (Score:3)
Vegetarian, so you're not eating meat. Instead, your having robots that cost a lot t build and maintain, rather than pay a living wage in a city that's got a lot of homeless since they can't get jobs. And how often will maintenance need to be done on the 'bots?
Or is this just to avoid human employees who might decide to unionize?
Why vegetarian? (Score:2)
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Some people cut back on meat consumption for health rather than ethical reasons. Of course, that kind of goes out the window when you're talking about something like Impossible burger, where it's debatable if it really is any healthier than actual cow meat.
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Our department staff (25-30 people total) typically has had one or two vegetarians at any given time.
The only problem is - for work events, our events team always acts as if the staff is 50% vegetarian. So (for example) the actual decent pizza goes away quickly, and anyone late to the party has to make do with rather crap veggie pizza.
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Depends what's on the veggie pizza really. Onion, bell peppers and mushrooms with cheese and sauce sounds great to me. Now the vegan pizza, hard pass. Pizza needs cheese or otherwise I'm not calling it pizza.
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Think it's more a case of who made the pizza. Big chain meat pizzas are marginal; their veggie pizzas suck.
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I think I've known one vegetarian in my lifetime.
Congratulations on your isolated experience? Does it also shock you to know that some people who eat meat also can occasional eat vegetarian meals? I mean it's not like the other way around, there's virtually no carnivores in the human race, we're omnivores.
In any case, vegetarian is much easier to deal with from a food safety point of view, so there's a reason to focus on that for a robot run restaurant. Maybe you should visit the place, you may get to know more vegetarians.
New York City!?! (Score:1)
Understaffed is not "want to interact with people" (Score:2)
Lack of "meeting minimum service levels" is different from "I want to chat with a 'friend' I pay periodically for the privilege". And machines that won't do what you want aren't able to change or understand your issues, where SOME people do.
Vegetarian cuisine ... (Score:2)
Then there is Udipi cuisine, mostly Vaishnavait brahmins, well know for their restaurants
Intent to Deceive - Are we their yet? (Score:3)
Of course, anyone who read the story will know that their was Intent to Deceive involved
In my opinion, a quite nice and fun story, even with the implied butchering / murder by machines, and serving a human up as food.
Food-borne illness incidents (Score:2)
Personally, I found Chipotle a surprising venue for these outbreaks. I've only been in one about 10 times in all, but they strike me as well above average for a fast food outlet (as far as a customer can tell).
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They look nice to compensate for the fact that the food is actually somewhere between mid and terrible. I've seen the nicest Chipotle's (and similar styles of fast casual) fail health inspections that you wouldn't have expected, followed by the seediest looking places acing there's completely unexpected (to me, the customer at least).
How about (Score:2)
Steve Ells pay his fucking employees living wages instead of wasting money on useless garbage? Oh wait, his entire life is useless garbage.
Thrilled to see someone doing this (Score:2)
Shut up and take my money!
This is an obvious solution that people need to be taking charge of full throttle. More of this please.
3D Printer (Score:2)
Humans please, not stupid robots (Score:1)
Wonder if it will taste good (Score:2)
nope (Score:2)
Robots do not have the flexibility to really do this. It's a gimmick. An expensive one. Look for it to fail in short order.
NY (Score:1)