Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-08-10)

SPLUNCHECIALS

RESTAURANTSCAN BESAVED

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THE FUTURE OF ... Bloomberg Pursuits August 10, 2020

We now know the business model needs rethinking and the layouts

aren’t safe. But legendary restaurant designer David Rockwell

has a blueprint to solve both problems with one genius, flexible plan

By Kate Krader Illustrations by Brown Bird Design

Even in good times, restaurants operate on slim margins.

Owners battle unmanageable rents and struggle to pay mea-

ger wages, as much of their venue’s real estate sits unused

for hours every day. Now that diners are threatened by air-

borne pathogens, management is finding the spaces difficult

to keep sanitary—if they’re open at all.

Bloomberg Pursuits asked the Rockwell Group, renowned

for designing such destinations as New York’s Nobu 57 and the

Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, to share a vision of the future

that solves these structural problems—a multipurpose hub

that’s economically and environmentally viable. In these ren-

derings, the restaurant serves as a community center, grocery,

and educational space during the day. At night, diners sit down

to eat indoors, and various components can be rearranged for

privacy and distance in the midst of communality.

“Restaurants of the future will be more flexible,” says

founder David Rockwell. “A model like this reinforces the

French root of the word ‘restaurant,’ which is ‘restore.’”

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