Would you like AI with that? Australia’s first restaurant generated by artificial intelligence is coming
Are humans still needed for restaurant development? Sydney hospitality group Applejack found out through a national competition.
Australia’s first AI-generated pop-up restaurant, Luminary, will open at hatted North Sydney restaurant Rafi for one week from July 29.
Perth woman Stefanie Wee used artificial intelligence software ChatGPT and Canva AI Image Generator to develop the concept as part of a nationwide competition hosted by Sydney hospitality group Applejack, which owns Rafi.
The menus, lighting and interior design Wee generated will be adapted into a restaurant experience themed around “the art of illumination”, with sustainable drinks and dishes inspired by the elements of water, earth, fire and air.
Wee entered prompts such as “high-end, experimental and unique” into ChatGPT before using its answer to render images in Canva.
“AI is a tool you can use to assist with ideation and creation, but I don’t think it will ever overtake chefs”Joanna Steuart, director of marketing and partnerships at Applejack
“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,” explains Joanna Steuart, director of marketing and partnerships at Applejack.
“[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 team chose Wee’s design after witnessing the success of Vivid Sydney, a light and music festival that drew a record 3.28 million visitors to the city this year.
“We thought the concept was cool,” she says.
“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 menus were ultimately a collaboration between Wee’s AI-generated ideas, group beverage manager Joe Worthington and head of culinary Patrick Friesen. The dishes sound visually spectacular, incorporating molecular techniques, dry ice and iridescent oils to hit each elemental note of the AI brief.
Diners can expect locally sourced seafood dishes, such as 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.
While Luminary may be Australia’s first AI-generated restaurant, it isn’t the first to incorporate AI technology.
AI software is used in service robots, such as Dinerbot by Keenon Robotics (seen at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park) and BellaBot by Pudu Robotics (seen at Casa Ristorante Italiano in Sydney’s CBD).
International fast food chains such as McDonald’s, meanwhile, have invested in AI technology to strategically market food items depending on time of day, weather and popularity.
And when it comes to restaurant reservations, OpenTable in the US has recently 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 says.
“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.”
Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food's Sydney-based reporter.