Food & Drinks
BaoBox: Wooing the Gen-Zs with latest tech high-wire
Friday October 27 2023
BaoBox. PHOTO | COURTESY
“Surprise me,” my 15-year-old daughter, back from boarding school said when I asked her where she would like to go for dinner. I picked BaoBox, the new one on Nairobi’s General Mathenge Drive. It was Tuesday, and a classic film about a killer shark was screening from a massive screen in the outdoor seating area when we arrived.
We sat in a booth with a hard wooden seat. Trouble started when the waiter asked for my name, number, and e-mail for us to access the menu from his gadget. Of course, I said no. “Why do you need my details to order food?,” I asked. He said it’s the way the system is built. I said that is a ridiculous system. Swords unsheathed, and a back-and-forth ensued. On the screen, a shark bit someone’s leg off.
He said the other alternative was to download an app to access a menu. Download an app to eat? Come on, man! Is eating that serious here? More swords clashed, and more people were mauled by the shark.
The manager was called. She said: “Look I promise that once you are done, your details won’t be retained on our system.” Something a shark would say. That’s a lie! How old did she think I was, 15?
Anyway, my daughter was hungry, plus I didn’t want to embarrass her and risk scarring her for life, so I reluctantly gave my details. I gave a fake name and email address, of course, in rebellion. They then strapped a band on my wrist, which you use to unlock your order (by tapping on their gadget) and also pay your bill (by tapping again) whereupon they strap you with another band, a green one, to show the doorman as your leave, otherwise, he will wrestle you and restrain you in a chokehold until the management comes and feeds you to a shark.
It was the most exhausting experience I have had in a restaurant even though my daughter loved the ambience and her beef burger. The manager explained that the whole tech highwire act was because “the Gen-Zs prefer it.” So, not for me. It’s for young people. And sharks.
