NYC restauranteur Danny Meyer just single-handedly made Apple Watch relevant to the hospitality industry

When NYC restaurateur, Shake Shack founder, and millionaire Danny Meyer’s “30-year-old Union Square Cafe reopens in Manhattan next month, every floor manager and sommelier will be wearing an Apple Watch,” Daniela Galarza reports for Eater. “And 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.

Galarza reports, “In an announcement made moments ago at the TechTable Summit, representatives from Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and Resy — the reservation system start-up founded by (Eater co-founder) Ben Leventhal, Michael Montero, and Gary Vaynerchuk — confirmed a partnership that would integrate the Apple Watch into front-of-house restaurant service… It’s a forward-thinking approach to technology in hospitality that’s never been tried before. So far no restaurant has asked its staffers to don a wearable during dinner service. In fact, for most restaurant employees, mobile usage is banned during service hours.”

For now, “Apple Watches will not replace communication between servers and management,” Galarza reports. “But when a guest has finished dining, a manager can ping the coat room attendant to fetch the guest’s coat; when a diner orders a bottle of wine, a manager need not print a ticket for the order — instead… the sommelier’s Apple Watch [will be pinged], eliminating an extra step in the often time-consuming process.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Before too long, Apple Watch will be everywhere.

In the words of someone we know who just began wearing their first Apple Watch a week or so ago: “Oh, duh, now I get it!”

Along with many millions of people, you are going to want an Apple Watch. All you have to do it touch it and see even a glimpse of what it can do and you’ll be sold. Apple Watch already does so much, but once third-party developers get a hold of WatchKit and really dig in, the sky’s the limit! — SteveJack, MacDailyNews, September 9, 2014

8 Comments

    1. You will probably have to wait a while, long while. I don’t see how the round smart watches can show photos, videos, games, text messages, maps, or calendars very well. How easy are they to draw on? To swipe your fingers across? Maybe the Apple Watch has issues doing some of these, at least they can do them. Theses are still early adopter products. Big and round may look like a cool dive watch, but they are very limited in their functions.

        1. Your response answers zero questions posed by WetFX. The Movado Museum Watch elegantly tells approximate time, and thats all it does. Soon it will be relegated to a museum.

  1. Be nice for the customer to “ping” for the check (or just pay for the check via Watch and leave) and “ping” when needing anything else from the server which often can disappear. I fear hospitality people so “pinged” will eventually become unhinged & twitchy with nervous ticks.

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