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News
Rise of the virtual menu
This winter sees the opening of a second branch of Inamo, the pan-Asian restaurant featuring virtual menus projected onto its tables.
The new site in Regent Street, London, is called Inamo St James, accommodating 300 guests across its 8,000 square foot restaurant, bar and sushi areas. The venue also features two private dining rooms.
Owners Danny Potter and Noel Hunwick plan to establish the bar as a destination in its own right. Inspired by “the flavours of the Orient”, cocktails include sake-based Martinis and mojitos alongside infusions such as the grass melon Martini.
The inspiration behind the Inamo concept, originally launched at its first branch in Soho, came from a desire to give customers more control over their dining experience. The virtual menus put Inamo one step ahead of the increasing number of restaurants offering their menu via iPad.
The E-Table system which operates the Inamo menus was developed by Potter and Hunwick’s company Compurants. The tables are made of corin, a material similar to a combination of marble and glass, which sits below a fanless PC and projector. The PC then communicates with wireless touch panels embedded in the table, enabling customers to place their order.
“The new site offers remarkable potential and complex challenges in equal measure”, remarked Hunwick. “Naturally we’re delighted with the success to date of our first Inamo but understand that this is a completely new project, irrespective of certain similarities, and the scale of the restaurant is not to be taken lightly.”
Gabriel Savage, 07.12.2010