the byte - How we built an AI-powered Pop-up Restaurant

Have you ever imagined a restaurant where AI powers everything? From the menu to the cocktails, hosting, music, and art? No? Ok, then, please click here.

If yes, well, it’s not a dream anymore. We made it happen: Welcome to “the byte” – Germany’s (maybe the world’s first) AI-powered Pop-up Restaurant!

As someone who has worked in data and AI consulting for over ten years, building statworx and the AI Hub Frankfurt, I have always thought of exploring the possibilities of AI outside of typical business applications. Why? Because AI will impact every aspect of our society, not just the economy. AI will be everywhere – in school, arts & music, design, and culture. Everywhere. Exploring these directions of AI’s impact led me to meet Jonathan Speier and James Ardinast from S-O-U-P, two like-minded founders from Frankfurt, who are rethinking how technology will shape cities and societies.

S-O-U-P is their initiative that operates at the intersection of culture, urbanity, and lifestyle. With their yearly “S-O-U-P Urban Festival” they connect creatives, businesses, gastronomy, and lifestyle people from Frankfurt and beyond.

When Jonathan and I started discussing AI and its impact on society and culture, we quickly came up with the idea of an AI-generated menu for a restaurant. Luckily, James, Jonathan’s S-O-U-P co-founder, is a successful gastro entrepreneur from Frankfurt. Now the pieces came together. After another meeting with James in one of his restaurants (and some drinks), we committed to launching Germany’s first AI-powered Pop-up Restaurant: the byte!

the byte: Our concept

We envisioned the byte to be an immersive experience, including AI in as many elements of the experience as possible. Everything, from the menu to the cocktails, music, branding, and art on the wall: everything was AI-generated. Bringing AI into all of these components also pushed me far beyond of what I typically do, namely helping large companies with their data & AI challenges.

Branding

Before creating the menu, we developed the visual identity of our project. We decided on a “lo-fi” appeal, using a pixelated font in combination with AI-generated visuals of plates and dishes. Our key visual, a neon-lit white plate, was created using DALL-E 2 and was found across all of our marketing materials:

Location

We hosted the byte in one of Frankfurt’s coolest restaurant event locations: Stanley, a restaurant location that features approx. 60 seats and a fully-fledged bar inside the restaurant (ideal for our AI-generated cocktails). The atmosphere is rather dark and cozy, with dark marble walls, highlighted with white carpets on the table, and a big red window that lets you see the kitchen from outside.

The menu

The heart of our concept was a 5-course menu that we designed to elevate the classical Frankfurter cuisine with the multicultural and diverse influences of Frankfurt (for everyone, who knows the Frankfurter kitchen, I am sure you know that this was not an easy task).

Using GPT-4 and some prompt engineering magic, we generated several menu candidates that were test-cooked by the experienced Stanley kitchen crew (thank you, guys for this great work!) and then assembled into a final menu. Below, you can find our prompt to create the menu candidates:

“Create a 5-course menu that elevates the classical Frankfurter kitchen. The menu must be a fusion of classical Frankfurter cuisine combined with the multicultural influences of Frankfurt. Describe each course, its ingredients as well as a detailed description of each dish’s presentation.”

Surprisingly, only minor adjustments were necessary to the recipes, even though some AI creations were extremely adventurous! This was our final menu:

Handkäs’ Mousse with Pickled Beetroot on Roasted Sourdough Bread
Next Level Green Sauce (with Cilantro and Mint) topped with a Fried Panko Egg
Cream Soup from White Asparagus with Coconut Milk and Fried Curry Fish
Currywurst (Beef & Vegan) by Best Worscht in Town with Carrot-Ginger-Mash and Pine Nuts
Frankfurt Cheesecake with Äppler Jelly, Apple Foam and Oat-Pecanut-Crumble

My favorite was the “Next Level” Green Sauce, an oriental twist of the classical 7-herb Frankfurter Green Sauce topped with a fried panko egg. Yummy! Below you can see the menu out in the wild 🍲

AI Cocktails

Alongside the menu, we also prompted GPT to create recipes that twisted famous cocktail classics to match our Frankfurt fusion theme. The results:

Frankfurt Spritz (Frankfurter Äbbelwoi, Mint, Sparkling Water)
Frankfurt Mule (Variation of a Moscow Mule with Calvados)
The Main (Variation of a Swimming Pool Cocktail)

My favorite was the Frankfurt Spritz, as it was fresh, herbal, and delicate (see pic below):

AI Host: Ambrosia the Culinary AI

An important part of our concept was “Ambrosia”, an AI-generated host that guided the guests around the evening, explaining the concept and how the menu was created. We thought it was important to manifest the AI as something the guests can experience. We hired a professional screenwriter for the script and used murf.ai to create several text-2-speech assets that were played at the beginning of the dinner and in-between courses.

Note: Ambrosia starts talking at 0:15.

AI Music

Music plays an important role for the vibe of an event. We decided to use mubert, a generative AI start-up that allowed us to create and stream AI music in different genres, such as “Minimal House” for a progressive vibe throughout the evening. After the main course, a DJ took over and accompanied our guests into the night 💃🍸

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AI Art

Throughout the restaurant, we placed AI-generated art pieces by the local AI artist Vladimir Alexeev (a.k.a. “Merzmensch”), here are some examples:

AI Playground

As an interactive element for the guests, we created a small web app that takes the first name of a person and transforms it into a dish, including a reasoning why that name perfectly matches the dish 🙂 You can try it out here: Playground

Launch

The byte was officially announced at the S-O-U-P festival press conference in early May 2023. We also launched additional marketing activities through social media and our friends and family networks. As a result, the byte was fully booked for three days straight, and we got broad media coverage in various gastronomy magazines and the daily press. The guests were (mostly) amazed by our AI creations, and we received inquiries from other European restaurants and companies interested in exclusively booking the byte as an experience for their employees 🤩 Nailed it!

Closing and Next Steps

Creating the byte together with Jonathan and James was an outstanding experience. It further encouraged me that AI will transform not only our economy but all aspects of our daily lives. There is massive potential at the intersection of creativity, culture, and AI that is currently only being tapped.

We definitely want to continue the byte in Frankfurt and other cities in Germany and Europe. Moreover, James, Jonathan, and I are already thinking of new ways to bring AI into culture and society. Stay tuned! 😏

The byte was not just a restaurant; it was an immersive experience. We wanted to create something that had never been done before and did it – in just eight weeks. And that’s the inspiration I want to leave you with today:

Trying new things that move you out of your comfort zone is the ultimate source of growth. You never know what you’re capable of until you try. So, go out there and try something new, like building an AI-powered pop-up restaurant. Who knows, you might surprise yourself. Bon apétit!