Brooklyn Dumpling Shop: A New Era of Dining

As restaurants around the world begin to reopen, health concerns take center stage. One New York hospitality maven is reimagining the dining experience with a retro concept poised for safe food service: the automat.

Innovative Dining Experience

Slated to open in the East Village later this summer, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop will incorporate several modern updates with health protocols in mind. These include:

• Self-cleaning food lockers
• Contact-free ordering systems
• UV light sanitation

Owner Stratis Morfogen, who founded the celebrity-favorite chain Philippe Chow, emphasizes the importance of safety, stating, “I want our staff and guests protected at all costs.”

Safety Measures for Diners

Upon entering the 24-hour quick-serve restaurant, diners—limited to two at a time—will:

• Pass under UV lights
• Be screened by metal detectors that check their temperature

Those receiving clearance can proceed to a hands-free ordering kiosk, while those who do not pass will undergo a secondary scan and may be turned away.

The Ordering Process

After placing their order, patrons will wait as their dumplings are delivered to a bank of lockers. Morfogen explains the system: “The locker goes from red, when your order is in, to yellow, which means two minutes out, to green, when you scan your phone on a keypad, the locker opens, and you take your food and go.”

Health-Conscious Features

This 800-square-foot facility will also include:

• Triple-filter air conditioning
• Antibacterial silicone shoe coverings
• Disinfectant strips to monitor treatment of all surfaces

However, technology isn’t the only upgrade; the menu boasts an impressive 32 varieties of “sandwich” dumplings, including pastrami, bacon cheeseburger, lamb gyro, French onion soup, and peanut butter and jelly. This innovative shop is capable of dispensing dumplings at an astonishing rate of 30,000 per hour.

Reviving the Automat Concept

The automatic restaurant, a staple of the 1950s dining scene, is making a comeback in our current era of social distancing. Morfogen states, “It’s cost-effective, and it’s really safe. The only reason the automat failed was because technology failed the automat.”

For more information, visit brooklyndumplingshop.com.