A Blast from the Past

Stroll down memory lane with AUTOMAT KITCHEN

By Marilyn Baer Photos courtesy of the Automat Kitchen

AnAmerican dining institution officially returned this year with the opening ofAutomat Kitchen, the reinvention of the famed automat.

For millennials like myself, unfamiliar with the tradition, the automat was a type of fast-food restaurant where simple premade foods and drinks were served via vending machines.

Originating in Berlin in 1895, they became popular in the United States after the first one opened in Philadelphia in 1902.

The automat was an iconic image of the 1940s and ‘50s, with men in suits and fedoras and women in hats and gloves—many of them famous—slipping nickels into the machines and receiving a chicken dinner or slice of pie.

By the1990s, the automat became virtually extinct with most of the ones operated by Horn & Hardart in New York City turned into Burger Kings.

Automat Redux

Now, new life has been breathed into the once popular concept, but this is anything but your grandmother’s automat.

Automat Kitchen, in the Newport Center Tower at 525 Washington Boulevard, has a chef-curated menu of modern comfort food classics and a technology-driven contactless experience that fits the needs of contemporary diners.

It modernizes the original concept with a fully contactless, touchless process using custom hardware and patented software to make ordering and pickup seamless.

Instead of dropping a nickel into a slot for a premade turkey sandwich on a lunch tray, Automat Kitchen offers technology driven convenience without sacrificing quality. Unlike the old automat, all dishes are made to order to ensure freshness.

Customers can order in advance on their phones, online, or at the location by scanning a QR code to connect to the menu and ordering system.

If those options don’t work for you, kiosk screens are also available where hungry diners can place their orders without interacting with a single soul.

Once an order is placed, guests receive a unique code via text to unlock their individual lockers when the order is ready, or they can schedule a specifi c time for locker pickup.

Behind the glass touchscreen locker door awaits delicious curated meals from a menu of reimagined modern takes on comfort food, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Updated Retro

Order the Pastrami Reuben Flatbread for an update of the classic New York City deli favorite, or warm your insides with some Midwestern home cooking like the retrofi tted Frito pie, the Frito Pie Burrito, or, most iconic of all, the Chicken Pot Pie with vegetables, puff pastry, and a rich and creamy gravy.

You won’t want to blow off your vegies when you can choose from fl avorful small plates like the Spiced Roasted Caulifl ower with turmeric, garam masala, sweet potato, and cilantro or Roasted Spaghetti Squash in marinara with spinach and parmesan.

Dinner options include Massaman Curry Pot Roast with sweet potato, caulifl ower, and carrots, a full Chicken Dinner which comes with half a rotisserie chicken, black beans, brown rice, and spicy sofrito sauce, or Atlantic Salmon with miso roasted broccoli and ancient grains.

Forgot to eat breakfast before the busy day ahead? Start the morning off with one of several breakfast options like The Hulkster, a vegan smoothie made with kale, avocado, green apples, spinach, and spirulina or opt for a delicious guilty pleasure like the Waffl e Sandwich made with sausage, scrambled eggs, and maple syrup.

No matter what you choose, your stomach and your spirit will thank you for your trip back to the future.—JCM