The concept of automat dining was closely tied to the post-industrial era and the surge in white-collar workers in cities and later a popular option during the Depression-era with inexpensive staples like baked beans and mac & cheese. The food was prepared in a kitchen behind a wall of locked boxes displaying the ready-made dishes - all self-service. Diners inserted coins to unlock them and retrieve the item they wanted.
Automat Kitchen opened Jan 27, 2021 and makes meals fresh to order. Consulting Chef Quirino Silva created a modern comfort food menu with creative global twists on American classics for breakfast, lunch and dinner to appeal to modern diners. Silva created dishes that draw both on history and tradition but reflect the way we eat today, including Pastrami Reuben Flatbread; Chicken Pot Pie with vegetables, puff pastry and creamy gravy and The Wedge salad with iceberg lettuce, lardons, tomato, blue cheese dressing - just to name a few.
The menu will change seasonally and include special limited-time items too - the plan has always been to rotate menu items - right now they are doing Mac Madness (coinciding with March Mad Madness 3/18 - 4/5) with 5 new mac & cheese dishes: beef Meatballs Stuffed with Mac & Cheese Parm Sandwich with marinara, mozzarella and spinach; BBQ Brisket Mac & Cheese with gorgonzola cheese; Pepperoni Pizza Mac & Cheese with mozzarella, parmesan, mascarpone, marinara and cupped pepperoni over Mac & Cheese crust. Their signature Mac & Cheese with elbow macaroni, cheese blend, parmesan crisp, toasted breadcrumbs, scallions and crema verde will be available on its own, as well as in a Mac & Cheese Sandwich. Vegan Mac & Cheese with penne pasta, vegan cheddar, vegan mozzarella and oat milk will be offered with optional grilled tofu on top.
The user experience and process of ordering, paying and receiving the meal is based on Automat Kitchen's technology, custom hardware and software. Orders can be placed in advance online or by smartphone or at the location by scanning the QR code with a phone that will take you to ordering online.
After selecting items and entering payment information, the kitchen confirms the received order with a text. Customer's first name and last initial will appear on the main display screen above the locked food cubbies with the status "received." When order is ready, the status changes on the display to show the number of the cubby the order is in and customer receives a text with a unique code to unlock the cubby, to which they reply "open" by text (or manually enter the code on the cubby's screen). The door opens and closes automatically after the food is removed.
AUTOMAT KITCHEN
525 Washington Blvd
Jersey City, NJ 10017
Read the Mar Issue #63 of Athleisure Mag and see Athleisure List | Automat Kitchen in mag.
