Deliveroo dark kitchens

I went out for lunch in SF a few months back, and behind the counter, the place was a madhouse, with frantic workers fulfilling orders. However, there was only me eating there, with a few bike messengers and their giant backpacks.

Despite a seating area, the lunch rush was all large deliveries to companies, so the seating area is just wasted rent.

Following that direction some, the UK food delivery service Deliveroo has taken over the kitchen part too. if Deliveroo is the brand that I’m buying from, and not an actual Indian/Thai/whatever restaurant with a name I trust and recognize, then Deliveroo might as well operate the kitchen part as well.

Moving along past that, the interesting part for me then, is going to be is if the other half of the restaurant experience

• the dining area manages to become a thing - sometimes I want takeout so I can eat in the comfort of my own home, but sometimes I actually want to eat out. Is there a new business model enabled by this, for a fancy restaurant with no kitchen? Order whatever food you wanted to the place, they would take it, plate it as only a fancy restaurant can do, and then serve it to you with the appropriate flourishes, on a table with cloth tablecloth and fancy silverware. Finally, they would take away the dishes (and clean them), but without the cheapness of eating out of cardboard boxes.