NYC restaurant turns to cat-eared robot to roll out food, draw crowd

Hello, robo-kitty!

A cat-eared robot will roll out food orders at a Japanese restaurant in the Big Apple – the latest step in a charm offensive by restaurateurs trying to automate the dining experience, Side Dish has learned.

The waiter-on-wheels is called BellaBot – a waist-high, feline-faced machine that can deliver food and drinks, and ferry back dirty dishes.

The bots, which cost between $12,000 and $15,000, have been mobilized at restaurants from Florida to Michigan.

Garry Kanfer, head of Kissaki Hospitality Group, decided to turn to the pricey gimmick as an entertainment draw at his soon-to-open Kamasu outpost in FiDi.

“I’ve seen them and read about them. This will be a trial,” Kanfer told Side Dish.

What BellaBot can’t do is take orders or interact with customers – thus preserving job security at his 2,500 square-foot restaurant at 111 John St., which opens next month. 

The eatery will have 70 seats and offer open-faced temaki hand rolls with an a la carte menu of maki, specialty futomaki and donburi.

“You still need the waiter to be there and place food at people’s tables,” said Kanfer, whose other Kamasu locations are at The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards and at Time Out Market in Dumbo.

This isn’t the first time Kanfer has added robots to his restaurants. 

At Kissaki, a fine-dining concept he launched during the pandemic, and at his other Kamasu locations, Kanfer uses around four sushi robot machines to make rice for sushi rolls. 

“I had a lot of pushback. Even our management was worried,” said Kanfer, whose Kissaki outposts are located in the Hamptons and Manhasset, Long Island. 

“But robots are a good fit for fast casual — and humans are still there to interact with customers.”

The incorporation of robotic helpers boomed during the pandemic as the lack of human contact became desirable. 

The Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, for example, used a heated locker reminiscent of the old-school automats for contact-free pick-up. 

The threat that robots will take away jobs has become a growing concern in the restaurant industry, said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. 

“Service people are already being eliminated by touch screens when it comes to ordering,” Rigie said. “We will continue to see robot dim sum carts and robots mixing cocktails in Las Vegas, but restaurants are a labor intensive business and the focus is on service and hospitality. No robot will ever replace that.”

We hear…that friends and rivals in the hospitality industry came together on Nov. 1 to raise $1.1 million for United Hatzalah Emergency Relief Fund at Al Coro. About 600 people attended the event organized by Noath Tepperberg, of Tao Group Hospitality, Jason Pomeranc, of Sixty Hotels, and Cobi Levy, of Prince Street Hospitality. Actor/comedian Modi was MC, while Sam Ronson and Jesse Marco were DJs. Lior Raz, the Israeli actor and co-star of “Fauda,” and Brett Gelman, of “Stranger Things,” contributed to the singing of both the Israeli and American national anthems. “It was all pretty spontaneous,” Tepperburg said. “We all had friends and family who were impacted. It struck a nerve and felt right to do something quickly and immediately.” The fundraiser was also a way to bring a hurting community together, Pomeranc added. “The hospitality industry does so much to entertain and give energy to New York City, creating an eclectic culture with people of different backgrounds. That’s what makes New York great,” Pomeranc said. Another $1 million was raised by the restaurateurs at a similar event held at Lavo in Los Angeles on Nov. 20.

We hear…that Citymeals on Wheels raised $1.5 million at its 36th annual power lunch at the Plaza Hotel featuring Chef Daniel Boulud, Kathleen Turner, Deborah Roberts, Barbara Bush and Christian Siriano. That’s enough to deliver more than 150,000 meals to older New Yorkers in need, said Citymeals CEO Beth Shapiro.