The ghost kitchen concept is taking greater roots in full-service hotels as evidenced by news on Tuesday that C3, the digital kitchen concept founded by hospitality veteran Sam Nazarian has signed a deal with Ben Weprin’s Graduate Hotels to debut the?Graduate Food Hall, a delivery-focused, hybrid digital kitchen concept, which will open in six Graduate properties by mid-2021.
Through this partnership,?Graduate Hotels will fully outsource all of its food management services to C3. Further plans include the roll out of the concept across a majority of Graduate’s U.S. portfolio by end of year. The partnership is expected to introduce C3 restaurant brands (concepts such as Umami Burger, Krispy Rice and Sam’s Crispy Chicken) to 3.5 million students within Graduate university communities across the U.S.
Projected to be a US$75-billion business in the next two years, the ghost kitchen?concept is shifting from individual storefronts to hotel F&B departments as restaurant space is being converted into digital kitchens where multiple culinary brands are available to both hotel guests and the surrounding community. Some developers are even creating second kitchens to boost revenue through ghost kitchens, according to C3.
Graduate Food Hall will feature dine-in options within Graduate Hotels’ lobbies and gathering areas, as well as delivery and take-out. Graduate Hotels will continue to operate its own bar outlets.
Graduate Food Hall is anticipated to debut in Graduate Berkeley, California, Graduate Richmond, Virginia, and Graduate Tempe, Arizona, with additional locations to come.
“The partnership between C3 and Graduate will set the precedent for the future of hotel dining,” Nazarian said. “This setup not only supports and supplements in-room hotel dining and on-site catering, it also streamlines the ordering process and extends the hotel’s reach within the local community.”
“This year has presented both immense challenges and opportunities for our industry, and we have taken these moments to pause, reassess and evolve our offerings in order to best serve guests, students and locals,” Weprin said. “With Graduate Food Hall, we’re providing some exciting options and epicurean experiences, but also an incredibly streamlined and convenient approach that reflects today’s market.”
C3’s digital kitchen approach has already experienced success through standalone ventures in cities like Los Angeles and Miami as a first-of-its-kind restaurant incubator in which consumers can order from some of the world’s leading chefs through quick-service culinary brands. Launched just 18 months ago, C3 is poised to expand rapidly, with 200 digital kitchens and eight brands already established by year-end 2020.