Aberration or apparition? Ghost kitchens could replace your favorite haunt
These virtual restaurants offer chefs a lifeline during a pandemic, and beyond.
By Kara Baskin Globe Correspondent,Updated January 26, 2021, 12:00 p.m.
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Back in the old days of 2019, youâd visit a restaurant to chat with the bartender, see a familiar waiter, and enjoy a favorite dish. Now that restaurant might actually be a ghost kitchen â no bartender, no waiter, and maybe a completely new dish, too.
Many top restaurateurs are trying out ghost concepts to weather the pandemic, and some are considering keeping on even after it ends. Ghost kitchens lack the typical infrastructure of servers, table service, and so on. Instead, this is a virtual restaurant restricted to mere takeout and delivery and restrained primarily by budget and imagination, and frequently a departure from a chefâs typical repertoire. Itâs ideal for the low-touch COVID-19 age, when customers are leer