Your Table Is Ready

When you think of the word luxury, you may think cars, fashion houses, and hotels. But recently, we’ve observed a new class of luxury “brands” emerge: restaurants. While dining at high-end restaurants has long been a privilege of the rich and famous, it has never been quite so visible. Traditional and new media alike have identified and catered to (no pun intended) the public’s inexplicable fascination with exclusive dining experiences, expensive food, and the people who prepare it. Undoubtedly, the restaurant industry seems to have exploded… and we can’t seem to get a reservation.

Across media formats, content has been reflective of consumer interest in the category: Netflix’s “Chef’s Table” has received countless awards, “The Bear” has had an unexpected chokehold on popular culture, and chef creator accounts have proliferated (e.g., Wishbone Kitchen, Matt Broussard, Olivia Tiedemann). Such interest is largely buoyed by a younger demographic – in 2018, The Infatuation bought Zagat – and one with the discretionary income and appetite to spend big on dining – in 2021, J.P. Morgan bought The Infatuation. Whether the cause or effect of today’s cultural landscape, people are obsessed with restaurants and the stories behind their food. And their spending habits follow suit; Netflix shows and creators drum up tremendous demand for specific restaurants and recipes, creating scarcity that only bolsters their prestige. The frenzy around restaurants has encouraged potential patrons to make reservations many weeks out, and in turn, restaurants often demand a credit card to ensure they will actually show up.

Unsurprisingly, technology has followed this consumer trend. We’ve seen several upstarts in the space embrace and respond to this scarcity and the punitive, protective measures restaurants have been forced to adopt. ResX, for example, began as an Instagram account where consumers could give cancellation-fee-laden reservations to people eager to dine at a specific restaurant. From its unassuming start on social media, ResX grew into a more sophisticated, dedicated app with a points system to incentivize usage. Another company in the space is Dorsia, a platform that offers its members access to the most coveted reservations across New York, London, Miami, LA, and San Francisco – so long as they agree to a steep food and beverage minimum.

And restaurants themselves are capitalizing on this explosion of excitement and demand. If yesterday's expansion plan was stamping out new locations, today’s involves the creative extension of their brands. Major Food Group has not only aggressively pursued new restaurant openings (not easy given a core input to luxury is scarcity), but also has adopted a private membership club model and even turned to residential hospitality, building a new, luxury condo building in Miami. Gjelia, the wildly popular LA restaurant, recently announced their foray into hospitality with the opening of their first ever hotel concept, Vittorja. But the buildout of monetization streams is not limited to brick-and-mortar. These brands are also pushing into CPG, like Carbone pasta sauce, Gjusta goods, and Via Carota’s Craft Cocktail. What may seem like a quaint way to further the customer relationship may in fact drive a big financial outcome. Look no further than the sale of Rao’s (parent co) to Campbells for $2.7Bn.

It’s not just restaurants capitalizing on the opportunity. Modern food CPG brands are launching high-end products positioned as status symbols and developing cult followings in the process. For example, Graza olive oil is to the kitchen as Aesop soap is to the powder room. The ultimate creator (Kim K) has cosigned this trend herself, investing in Truff out of her newly formed PE fund, SKKY Partners. These “micro luxuries” are the functional equivalent of a Dior lipstick – they offer the consumer a taste of the high life without the multi-figure price tag. Apparently traditional luxury is taking note: Balenciaga recently collaborated with Erewhon, an explicit acknowledgement of the luxury consumer’s obsession with the culinary experience.

If you’ve made it this far, you may be wondering why we’re writing about this in a creator newsletter. And no, we’re not just hungry (ok, maybe a little hungry). In this category, creators really matter. They are the primary tastemakers and curators in a sea of new restaurant openings and endless recipe inspiration. Consumers closely follow to figure out where to make their next reservation, or even how to impress as a Thanksgiving host. Creators are a single aggregation point for food enthusiasts who give their communities a place to connect, engage and trade tips about how to snag the hottest reservation. And as creators make restaurants cool, eating there serves as reinforcement that those creators are in-the-know. The symbiotic relationship is unique and powerful, and as we consider categories where creators have overwhelming impact, we remain enthusiastic about the rapidly-changing dynamics of the culinary industry.