Hasta La Gadget!

SmartCellar Menu Application, from Incentient.com

One promise of tablets and e-readers is that everything we read that can be held in our hands, not just books and web pages, could end up moving from static paper to a dynamic screen. Some restaurants are already taking the plunge, handing out iPads instead of menus.

The New York Times recently profiled a number of these future-thinking restaurants, from London bistros to Atlanta steakhouses. They report that customers love them, sales are up, and that so far, no one has stolen or spilled their drinks on the tablets. Hijacking them for playing video games and checking-in on Foursquare have likewise been minimal.

Traditionally, restaurants touting their extensive wine, beer, or liquor collections have consecrated that authority with large tomes bound in deluxe leather. (“Here is the Bible,” a waitress whispered to a reporter for the Economist at a French restaurant in London’s Covent Garden.)

But these books aren’t terribly functional for search. Customers have grown used to finding beverage information on their smartphones; software-based tablets are a natural way for restaurants to meet their clientele halfway, keeping them (and their stewards) in on the action. And as the devices have quickly accrued some of the same prestige as the old codex menus.

For the customer, digital menus are interactive, searchable, and can easily incorporate text with images. For the restaurant, digital menus can be edited on the fly, reflecting new items, prices, specials, and availability (or lack thereof) without having to launch an entire reprinting. They can also augment the catalog with reviews, suggestions about food pairings, even multimedia. Master sommelier Fred Dame told the Times, “when I saw this thing and saw the applications, I said, ‘Oh, man, that’s the end of the print shop.’”

I can imagine a future where customers have a restaurant’s interactive menu on their own devices, logging in, and reserving a bottle of wine (and even a particular table) before they step out the door.

Don’t expect to fiddle with a high-end touchscreen menu at your neighborhood family restaurant anytime soon; the cost-benefit curve just doesn’t turn sharply enough yet. But we can expect them to continue changing the look and feel of the fine dining experience.

See Also:

• Single-Serve Takeaway Wine Glasses Intoxicate Britain
• Wine Snobs Geek Out on “Systems Oenology”
• How to Use Your iPhone to Drink More (and Better) Wine
• Wired 9.11: The Grapes of Math
• London Restaurant Uses Touchpads for Orders, Projectors for Mood …

The DIY-tacular folks over at Instructables have all sorts of crafty shenanigans that you can get yourself into should you be stuck home with the kids on a rainy afternoon, unemployed, or a just some kind of nut who likes to keep their hands busy. The whole spectrum. And they’re gonna make the most out of this last unofficial weekend of summer.

They have step-by-step instructions on how to prepare an adorable (functioning!) little mini-BBQ out of nothing more than an Altoids tin, pair of computer fan guards, and assorted toolbox crumbs. It is fueled by a standard-sized briquette and–the author claims–is capable “of cooking a full-size hot dog (cut down to size) or smaller hamburger
patties with ease.”

So while all those suckers are out there fighting with Hurricane Earl for their burgers, you can sit by your open window with your adorable little mini Altoids grill and pass judgment on your culinary inferiors. And isn’t that what summer is all about?

hat tip unplggd

America makes some of the world’s finest beers. And now those beers are getting the conveyance they deserve—cans. More »

The buzz around the ongoing construction of the Tokyo Sky Tree (東京スカイツリー) has generated a whole bunch of tie-in products in the surrounding area, especially themed food.

One of our favorites is the Tower Don: several giant tempura shrimp balancing Sky Tree-style over a bowl of rice.

[Image via tabelog]

There are also hotels offering special deals for rooms with a good view of the tower, plus a plentitude of cakes, models and other goods. And if it’s a Japanese enterprise there has to be a mascot. The Sky Tree’s is Oshinarikun (the name is formed by combining parts of the names of two of the areas where the Sky Tree is being built), a boy so cute he even has his own rice crackers.

It’s not even opening for nearly another two years so think how many other tie-ups there will be by then! Of course, encouraging people to buy these kinds of special new products is one of reasons for the Sky Tree in the first place — to rejuvenate the Oshiage area and change its run-down image.

Japan — world-famous for its vending machines — has now got its first banana vending machine courtesy of Dole.

It’s already proved a hit, selling all its stock on the first and subsequent days. Installed in Shibuya station in an underground connection between the Tokyu Denentoshi Line and the Hanzomon Line, the makers later hope to start selling other fruit in vending machines directly inside offices and universities.

[Pics via Shibuya Keisai]

Of course, the big question is: How much does a banana cost? A single one is priced at 130 yen ($1.5) and a bunch of five or six is 390 yen (over $4).

Dole is apparently targeting younger people who live by themselves and don’t eat breakfast properly. However, Japanese etiquette traditionally considers it taboo to eat in public, so likely hungry people will purchase their banana and have to take it to their office or school for actual consumption.