Publisher's Letter
Ask Any
Weather Person
P
redicting the future is easy, but
predicting the future accurately
can be really hard. Contributing
Editor Caroline Perkins makes
that point very clearly in the intro of her
article Technology and Convenience:
The Restaurant of the Future (page 42).
Despite the inherent hazard that
comes with trying to peer too far into
the future, we find ourselves attempt-
ing it with some regularity. In a way,
it makes perfect sense. When you
spend as much time as our editors and
contributors do talking with and writ-
ing about the people and projects that
make up the restaurant industry, it is
only natural to form an opinion about
where we are headed and to want to
share those insights with our readers.
Whether writing about the kitchens
of the future, as we have over the past
eight years in the pages of our sister
magazine, Foodservice Equipment &
Supplies, or trying to gauge the impact
of the latest technological advances on
"smart kitchens," a subject that FE&S
has been writing about for 20 years,
we are always trying to apply our best
educated guess to what happens next.
As dicey a proposition as that
may be, it is also a useful exercise
100 percent of the time. Whether the
predictions turn out to be somewhat
accurate, completely true, or completely
wrongheaded, the real value comes in
the discussion of where we are today
and where we may go tomorrow.
The industry is evolving quickly
driven by larger societal changes in the
way we work, travel and communicate
— in the way we live. This seems like
a good time to stop and consider what
comes next.
All the best,
MAUREEN SLOCUM
President and Publisher
maureen@zoombagroup.com
6 • r e s t a u r a n t d e v e l o p m e n t + d e s i g n • S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 8