NFT Restaurants Reservations allows you to own a restaurant table

People are back to eating out after a sharp drop in reservations during the pandemic. According to data from OpenTable, the number of reservations made on the app in August and September was higher than in the same period in 2019.

As writer Amanda Mull recently noted for “The Atlantic,” much of this demand has been driven by reservation app Resy, an OpenTable competitor that “emerged with a simple proposition: It would show users what was available only on buzzy , well-regarded restaurants, and it would let them join a digital waiting list to maybe, just maybe, be called up to a difficult table if someone else canceled.”

But what if instead of ever having to worry about reserving a table at your favorite restaurant, you could own it instead? That’s the proposition behind NFTable, a Los Angeles-based startup founded by CEO Jordan Udko.

NFTable plays on the ever alluring concept of being exclusive. To have your place. To be on the list. The way it works is that NFTable works with a restaurant to create an NFT that corresponds to a specific table at said restaurant. In some cases, NFT is also combined with unique features – some restaurants choose to throw in free drinks. NFTable then auctions the NFT on its proprietary private auction platform. Currently, those eligible to bid are existing customers of the restaurants who are invited via email from the establishment.

One of the first adopters of this new technology is Angelini Ristorante & Bar, an upscale Italian-American eatery in Pacific Palisades operated by Amici Restaurant Group.

Initially, Angelini Ristorante partnered with NFTable to auction off a reservation at 7:00 PM on Friday night at one of the tables. Udko tells dot.LA that NFT sold for 130 Sol – a cryptocurrency equivalent to roughly $4,250. NFTable received 25% of the sales, with the rest going to Angelini Ristorante. According to Amici Group’s chief operating officer Alessandro Silvestri, the restaurant donated the proceeds to charity. If the NFT is resold on a secondary market, NFTable receives an additional 7.5% of the sale, says Udko.

Silvestri says Angelini partnered with NFTable because Udko and his family were longtime customers at Angelini Ristorante’s sister restaurant, Amici Brentwood.

“The idea seemed solid and it was quite revolutionary,” says Silvestri. “So we decided we could help them push the project forward and they could help us with the revenue.”

The prospect of owning one’s own restaurant table is, according to Udko, particularly appealing as waiting times for restaurants continue to skyrocket.

“I think [calling it] season ticket for a restaurant is a great analogy, adds Udko. He envisions NFTable not only as a tool for fine dining, but any place with a wait. “Any restaurant that has more demand than supply is a potential user of the product,” says Udko.

So what happens if the NFT owner doesn’t show up to claim their table?

To circumvent restaurants losing money on tables left vacant by the NFT holder, Udko says they can introduce a 15-minute “grace period”. If the NFT holder does not notify the restaurant that they will not arrive or do not show up for the reservation, the establishment may give the table to another guest.

Like all other NFT products, NFTables are also tradable. In other words, if someone buys a table at a restaurant and later decides they don’t want it anymore, they can list the NFT to be auctioned off on the same platform.

It is also possible to temporarily transfer ownership of the table to a friend using a temporary password system.

For now, Angelini Ristorante plans to stick to just one NFT reserved table since it is a relatively compact establishment. “I want to be clear that our first priority is our regular customers, especially local people, so they will always have some kind of preferential channel,” says Silvestri. The limited use is partly due to the fact that not everyone is on board with this new technology.

“We got emails back with lots of compliments, and they said, ‘oh, this is so brilliant, it’s a brilliant idea, who’s behind it?'” says Silvestri. “And somebody else said, ‘oh, this is disgusting, now that you’re doing these things your business will go upside down.'”

Silvestri remains optimistic about the new arrangement, adding that it will not change much in terms of day-to-day operations. “What we do is be innovative,” says Silvestri. “Maybe cryptocurrency will be the biggest flop of the 21st century, or maybe one day we’ll forget about the US dollar and we’ll all use coins or blockchain or whatever.”