An Apple Watch will be given to all Union Square Cafe 2.0 managers and sommeliers by founder Danny Meyer. With the move, Meyer, whose name is synonymous with innovation and refinement in the hospitality sector, aims to take better care of customers who come into the restaurant. Now all the managers in his recently-opened Union Square Cafe 2.0 will don Apple’s smartwatch, according to The Guardian.
Photo by fancycrave1 (Pixabay)Apple Watch to boost efficiency
This news resulted in a sort of panic among both patrons and pundits who are worried that the relationship between the managers and the customers will be affected largely by the interference of machines such as a smartwatch. However, Maureen Cushing, vice-president of technology, said that such concerns are uncalled-for.
“Human interaction in hospitality is the grounding foundation of USHG.”
She added that people at USGH (Union Square Hospitality Group) will never let that happen, explaining that the watch will help managers track how long customers occupy tables and when their order should be taken.
Further, the underground staff in the coat room can be intimidated in figuring out when they should fetch the customers‘ coats. Similarly, sommeliers will be able to fetch wine bottles from the cellar just in time. There were also some concerns about whether the watches’ screens would get infected. To this, Cushing replied that servers will not wear the watch, and managers and somms wear full sleeves, notes The Guardian.
Meyer a big name in the hospitality sector
The Apple Watch for restaurant employees will come preloaded with the ResyOS app, a restaurant reservations and wait-list system. The platform serves the purposes of integrating reservations, point-of-sale, mobile payments and on-the-floor services.
“When a VIP walks through the front door, someone orders a bottle of wine, a new table is seated, a guest waits too long to order her or his drink, or a menu item runs out, every manager will get an alert via the tiny computer attached to their wrist,” Eater reports.
Meyer is the founder of Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), which includes upscale restaurants such as Gramercy Tavern, the Modern, Maialino, and Untitled in addition to the publicly-traded fast-growing burger joint Shake Shack. Shake Shack is a huge success, and last year its IPO was valued at a staggering $1.6 billion.
In the hospitality sector, Meyer’s image is that of Obi Wan of Star Wars, and he recently put an end to the tipping culture in his restaurants. Meyer also became the first restaurateur to announce four weeks of paid parental leave.
