PHILADELPHIA – Aramark’s Launch Test Kitchen is more than meets the eye. The concept enables chefs to transform the restaurant’s menu based on real-time customer feedback and food trends.
Launch Test Kitchen was designed to be deployed in a number of ways, including concession stands at sports venues, pop-up, mobile restaurants at convention centers and other foodservice formats. The venues are equipped with versatile food preparation equipment and digital signs and menu boards. Guest feedback components at the restaurants help Aramark determine which menu items are resonating with customers. Popular items may be added to the core menu, while other items will be refreshed. Food and beverage concepts can be rotated throughout a sports season or any particular amount of time.
“Launch Test Kitchen is all about flexibility, variety and customization,” said Carl Mittleman, president of Aramark’s Sports and Entertainment division. “Guest feedback has always played an important role in determining our menus. With Launch Test Kitchen, we’re able to quickly adapt food trends and introduce new items, or showcase local chefs, based on those trends, while making it a very interactive experience for the guest.”
The Launch Test Kitchen concept currently operates in Quicken Loans Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Las Vegas Convention Center. Launch Test Kitchen also provides an opportunity for chefs to offer dishes that are representative of the local food scene. In Cleveland, for example, chef and owner of TownHall and Lago, Fabio Salerno opened the stand at the start of the 2015-16 basketball seasons. Chris Hodgson, Aramark partner chef and owner of Hodge’s, will be featured at the stand on Dec. 11.
