words Alex Wiltshire
Martí Guixé opened a temporary restaurant in November that was like an internet search engine for food.
Called Food Facility, the restaurant didn’t have a kitchen. Instead, it ordered in its meals from more than ten takeaways.
The project was located in the ground-floor exhibition space of an arts institute called Mediamatic, in Amsterdam, and was open every Friday and Saturday night of the month.
Customers were given a menu of all the food available from takeaways in the area and given recommendations on food quality and delivery time by a “Food Advisor”. On delivery, the food was unwrapped by “Food DJs” and served by the advisor.
“It was based on the idea that websites like Google don’t own any of their own content,” says Barcelona-based Guixé. “Like Google finds content for its users from other sources, Food Facility serves its food from other restaurants.” Guixé designed the interior to be generic looking and simple, much like Google’s homepage, with white, plastic furniture and plain graphics for the signage and menus.
Although the project was more installation than commercial venture, Guixé says it could be a sound business proposal. By eliminating the kitchen, there is more space at Food Facility for customers.
And it proved popular. “We were really busy, completely full,” says Nadja Peek of Mediamatic. “The local, fast-food shops were very happy. Customers would cheer when the delivery people dropped off the food.”
