4 ms·

Looking forward to the next iteration of this: Decentralised cloud kitchens. Do you have a freezer and a microwave? Then you, too can become a restaurant owner

by xg15 4y ago

Looking forward to the next iteration of this: Decentralised cloud kitchens. Do you have a freezer and a microwave? Then you, too can become a restaurant owner - just download our app and register! Once you signed up, we'll send you a week's supply of frozen meals from our selection. You can accept orders from our app, simply reheat one item, repackage it, wait for our delivery specialist to arrive and you're good to go! For a modest 30% fee we'll take care of all the rest!

kilroy123 4y ago
I could honestly see this happening. Time to start cooking more.
nine_k 4y ago
McDonald's restaurants work using a similar, though not as simplistic, model, and are a huge success worldwide.
- xg15 4y ago
  Of course at that point as an end user, you could just "eliminate the middleman", and go to the next supermarket and buy yourself a bunch of microwave food. The whole model only works because the end users don't know they are ordering reheated microwave crap. It's deception, nothing else. McDonald's and other franchisers at least still offer a physical restaurant and food items you wouldn't be able to prepare at home in that quality.
  - xxs 4y ago
    >McDonald's and other franchisers ... you wouldn't be able to prepare at home in that quality. What do you mean - McDonalds is piss poor quality fast food. It's ok at best but nowhere near close home cooked meal. Even 20min cooking w/o a microwave oven should produce decent results.
    - longtimelistnr 4y ago
      No shot you can recreate anything close to McDonald’s fries without a fryer and that alone is worth it. Even say fries and a milkshake. No premade milkshake and fries will touch a real fryer and ice cream machine
      - xg15 4y ago
        Hmm, good point and no question about the fries. I do like their burgers as a guilty pleasure from time to time, but that may just be have been habituation. (And no, I do like "high-end" burgers as well)
      - civilized 4y ago
        They're definitely not anywhere near McDonald's fries, but if you throw Rally's/Checkers branded frozen fries in an air fryer, the result is pretty good. Perhaps better depending on your taste.
      - xxs 4y ago
        Well, milkshake is a terrible idea in my book and something I'd not like entirely. If I wish to drink something it will be beer, wine, espresso or just plain water. Fries - no idea, I can have them but why I'd want fries home is another story; the frozen potatoes in the oven are pretty decent and no extra oil, so that's okay; again not especially enticing. If you have grown an acquired taste for McDonalds fries, so be it. At least where I live I know no one who'd say they wish to go to McDonalds for the fries.
    - throwaway09223 4y ago
      "McDonalds is piss poor quality fast food." It's really not. McDonald's fries are generally held as one of the better french fries available anywhere among food critics. Sure, the burgers are basic and lack expensive elements, but they are a consistent quality and flavor and handily beat what most people can cook these days (especially in a microwave). I can cook a better breakfast sandwich in a frying pan, but there's simply no chance I could do it in a microwave. And I'm a really good breakfast sandwich cook - I would prefer McDonald's to most of my friends' cooking. I can cook a better hamburger for sure, but I'll spend a lot more money doing so. And it won't be cooked in a microwave. When I think of "piss poor quality" I think of improperly prepared food: under/over cooked, stale or spoiled ingredients, etc. McDonald's isn't fancy, but it's certainly consistent. I don't think you can call it bad by any means.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  No they don't. McDonald's cooks its quarter pounders from fresh beef (hasn't been frozen since 2018). Their Roma tomatoes are also, you know, fresh. Just like their lettuce. Their Egg McMuffins are cracked from fresh eggs onto the griddle. They deep-fry their fries, good luck doing that at home in your microwave. All their sandwiches are hand-assembled. Buns and english muffins all freshly toasted. McDonald's is an actual restaurant. They're not just reheating and repackaging. Unless by your standard every restaurant falls under this category...?
  - nine_k 4y ago
    McDonald's gives you the franchise, the machines, the contacts of suppliers. Then you run the restaurant, not the McDonald's corporate management. This is how it works, AFAIK. This is where I see the most salient similarly.
tvbusy 4y ago
Change it slightly: choose one of these items, cook them and our delivery guy will come pick it up. If your cooking passes our quality check, we'll start directing orders of this item to you. You only have one job: prepare the same item, 24/7 whenever our app pings you. We'll take care of supply and delivery.
- miki_tyler 4y ago
  This is genius.
alcover 4y ago
While funny sounding, I think it could (and will) actually happen.
civilized 4y ago
I would argue this is making very economically efficient use of spare microwave capacity. So many microwaves these days are languishing, depreciating, with so little to do.
webmobdev 4y ago
This already exists in India - some ready-to-eat product companies have started these types of kitchens, and even supply to restaurants. And note that this isn't a new model - fast food industry has been doing this for some time now.

by xg15 4y ago

kilroy123 4y ago

I could honestly see this happening. Time to start cooking more.

nine_k 4y ago

McDonald's restaurants work using a similar, though not as simplistic, model, and are a huge success worldwide.

xg15 4y ago
Of course at that point as an end user, you could just "eliminate the middleman", and go to the next supermarket and buy yourself a bunch of microwave food. The whole model only works because the end users don't know they are ordering reheated microwave crap. It's deception, nothing else. McDonald's and other franchisers at least still offer a physical restaurant and food items you wouldn't be able to prepare at home in that quality.
- xxs 4y ago
  >McDonald's and other franchisers ... you wouldn't be able to prepare at home in that quality. What do you mean - McDonalds is piss poor quality fast food. It's ok at best but nowhere near close home cooked meal. Even 20min cooking w/o a microwave oven should produce decent results.
  - longtimelistnr 4y ago
    No shot you can recreate anything close to McDonald’s fries without a fryer and that alone is worth it. Even say fries and a milkshake. No premade milkshake and fries will touch a real fryer and ice cream machine
    - xg15 4y ago
      Hmm, good point and no question about the fries. I do like their burgers as a guilty pleasure from time to time, but that may just be have been habituation. (And no, I do like "high-end" burgers as well)
    - civilized 4y ago
      They're definitely not anywhere near McDonald's fries, but if you throw Rally's/Checkers branded frozen fries in an air fryer, the result is pretty good. Perhaps better depending on your taste.
    - xxs 4y ago
      Well, milkshake is a terrible idea in my book and something I'd not like entirely. If I wish to drink something it will be beer, wine, espresso or just plain water. Fries - no idea, I can have them but why I'd want fries home is another story; the frozen potatoes in the oven are pretty decent and no extra oil, so that's okay; again not especially enticing. If you have grown an acquired taste for McDonalds fries, so be it. At least where I live I know no one who'd say they wish to go to McDonalds for the fries.
  - throwaway09223 4y ago
    "McDonalds is piss poor quality fast food." It's really not. McDonald's fries are generally held as one of the better french fries available anywhere among food critics. Sure, the burgers are basic and lack expensive elements, but they are a consistent quality and flavor and handily beat what most people can cook these days (especially in a microwave). I can cook a better breakfast sandwich in a frying pan, but there's simply no chance I could do it in a microwave. And I'm a really good breakfast sandwich cook - I would prefer McDonald's to most of my friends' cooking. I can cook a better hamburger for sure, but I'll spend a lot more money doing so. And it won't be cooked in a microwave. When I think of "piss poor quality" I think of improperly prepared food: under/over cooked, stale or spoiled ingredients, etc. McDonald's isn't fancy, but it's certainly consistent. I don't think you can call it bad by any means.
crazygringo 4y ago
No they don't. McDonald's cooks its quarter pounders from fresh beef (hasn't been frozen since 2018). Their Roma tomatoes are also, you know, fresh. Just like their lettuce. Their Egg McMuffins are cracked from fresh eggs onto the griddle. They deep-fry their fries, good luck doing that at home in your microwave. All their sandwiches are hand-assembled. Buns and english muffins all freshly toasted. McDonald's is an actual restaurant. They're not just reheating and repackaging. Unless by your standard every restaurant falls under this category...?
- nine_k 4y ago
  McDonald's gives you the franchise, the machines, the contacts of suppliers. Then you run the restaurant, not the McDonald's corporate management. This is how it works, AFAIK. This is where I see the most salient similarly.

tvbusy 4y ago

Change it slightly: choose one of these items, cook them and our delivery guy will come pick it up. If your cooking passes our quality check, we'll start directing orders of this item to you. You only have one job: prepare the same item, 24/7 whenever our app pings you. We'll take care of supply and delivery.

miki_tyler 4y ago
This is genius.

alcover 4y ago

While funny sounding, I think it could (and will) actually happen.

civilized 4y ago

I would argue this is making very economically efficient use of spare microwave capacity. So many microwaves these days are languishing, depreciating, with so little to do.

webmobdev 4y ago

This already exists in India - some ready-to-eat product companies have started these types of kitchens, and even supply to restaurants. And note that this isn't a new model - fast food industry has been doing this for some time now.