An unmanned restaurant where guests cook for themselves

Foodsy is a new self-service eatery that does away with staff altogether — diners cook, serve and pay themselves instead.

Update: Foodsy has now been revealed as an stunt from the Amsterdam trade union FNV Horeca, designed to draw attention to low wages in the restaurant business. However, much of this article, especially the conclusion, is still of interest as a point of inspiration.

Pushing the idea of the ‘restaurant’ to its absolute limit, Foodsy is a new DIY Amsterdam eatery that does away with staff altogether. Instead, patrons cook, serve and even pay themselves using the food, equipment and instructions provided.

Foodsy was created by chef Edwin Sander, and will open in a temporary location this week. Guests will be provided with a menu of recipe cards that they can use to cook for themselves easily in under 20 minutes — diners simply use the raw ingredients, or in some cases pre-prepared soups or stews. There are also instructions for how to tap a beer and the best setting to make their own coffee. Once they have eaten, guests simply pay for their meal using an iPad app. Because there is no staff, most of the meals are significantly cheaper than they would be elsewhere.

We have already seen a pop-up restaurant that serves only food cooked by individuals in their homes. How else could eating out be adapted to suit different locations?