A restaurant in Moscow only hires twins

A restaurant owner in Moscow promises you will have such a great time in his establishment that you are going to see double, not because of the strong vodka, but because the staff is made up exclusively of identical twin brothers and sisters.

Aptly called Twin Stars, the Russian restaurant employs only twin bartenders and wait staff as a gimmick to attract more customers and prides itself on being the only such restaurant in the world. Alexei Khodorovsky, the owner of Twin Stars, says he was inspired by a 1960s movie where a girl finds herself in a parallel universe and discovers there’s another version of her – her twin. The idea seems fun and both the customers and the twin staff say they’ve enjoyed the experience thus far. “We worked as barmen before this summer in a different establishment. It was an internship for us,” Artyem, who works with his identical brother Roman at the bar, says. We really liked that internship. That’s why we decided this profession suits us and we came here to work.” Finding people like Artyem and Roman was a true challenge. Identical pairs with experience working in a restaurant were very hard to track down, but the effort was worthwhile because as Nika, another member of the unique staff, says “One pair (of twins) is already fun – when there are two, it’s even more fun.”

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Silent Dining Restaurant in New York

Do you remember how you always had to be quiet at the dinner table when you were young but never understood why? Now that you’re all grown up, with children of your own, you probably wish you could have just one more of those quiet dinners. If quiet is what you seek, you’re in luck, as now you can enjoy a four-course meal in complete silence at the Eat restaurant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn where you have to be quiet and enjoy the food, whether you like it or not.

Nicholas Nauman, head chef and curator of the silent-dinner experience, got the idea for the event during a trip to India where he admired the Buddhist monks having their breakfast every morning without uttering a word. In a competing market where restaurant owners are coming up with the most unusual concepts to attract customers – such as dining in pitch-dark, the 28-year-old thought this idea would gain popularity. “It’s just an opportunity to enjoy food in a way you might not have otherwise,” he says. This way, he hopes to “reconfigure the relationship between a space and food” by forcing customers to focus on their plates rather than on the countless distractions that occur while sitting at the dinner table.

The restaurant has already held two such monthly events which were fairly successful. When talking about the first experience, Nauman says “The energy of the presence of the people involved was really palpable and motivating to make the food really good. I didn’t know if afterwards people would say ‘Woah, dude – that was weird’ or be displeased and not want to pay.” Nobody really knew what to expect from this test run but Nauman was somehow positive everything would go well. The customers didn’t break the silence; one man even left the room when he felt like sneezing which is understandable since they were told they had to finish their meals on a bench outside if they didn’t respect the strict no talking rule/if they made so much as a noise. Furthermore, some customers found creative ways of communicating such as using facial expressions. “It’s kind of like a meditation,” Jordon Colon, the owner of Eat, says. “The silence speaks for itself.”

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World's First One-Person Restaurant

Eenmaal is a restaurant like any other restaurant, but one thing is totally different: you only find tables for one person here. ‘Eenmaal’ is an exciting experiment for those who never go out dining alone, as well as an appealing opportunity for those who often eat alone at restaurants”, explains social designer and initiator Marina van Goor.

Being alone has a negative image, according to Van Goor. Her one-person restaurant is part of a wider mission to break this taboo and to make it more attractive for people to be alone in public space. She’s definitely on something here — particularly in contemporary urban design public space is perceived as a place for people to meet and gather, rather than a place to be quiet and relax, alone.

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A restaurant where prices fluctuate like stock market

You don’t have to be an experienced stock trader to make a killing at the Exchange Bar & Grill in New York City, where prices of food and drink fluctuate according to the law of supply and demand.

The way it works is quite simple. According to the Exchange website, “The prices for your favorite drinks fluctuate depending on supply and demand. Watch a while when no one is ordering your favorite drink and snag it when the cost falls to unbelievable lows – or use your leverage to jack up the price of any cocktail, drink or shot for the whole bar.” Unlike the real stock market, insider trading isn’t illegal. You are welcome to make use of the tactic to catch the ‘market crash’, when every drink in the bar hits rock bottom. At times like this, beers are sold for as low as $2 to $4.

Exchange can seat up to 60 people and atmosphere is like a nice lounge with dim lighting, HD screens and leather couches. The ‘ticker tape’ flashes the fluctuating menu prices in red lettering according to an algorithm, the secret to which even Steven Yee, an operating partner at Exchange, claims he doesn’t know. “The algorithm was created by the person who wrote the software, and the guy won’t even share it with me.” Yee also says that the ticker is just a fun feature, and that they are more about good food, fantastic staff, a bar and a great atmosphere.

Owners Levent Cakar and Damon Bae agree the fluctuating price thing is a bit of a gimmick, but claim it’s done a great job of attracting customers. 35-year-old Bae, who has an MBA from Georgetown University, says “It’s definitely something a little bit different. There is a little bit of a twist.” At Exchange, customers have the power to move the prices of all beverages and bar snacks. For example, the price of a plate of hot wings is generally $7, but it could fluctuate either way in 25 cent increments to as low as $5 or as high as $9. A glass of Guinness could start trading at $6 and be pushed quickly to $8. Or sometimes, fall to $4 depending on popularity



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Interesting robot restaurant in Harbin China

Well, it’s not exactly as advanced as you’re used to seeing in sci-fi movies, but China’s colorful robot-themed restaurant can be a sign of things to come.

They’re probably going to render us extinct one day, so we might as well enjoy their servitude, while it lasts. A unique restaurant, in Harbin, China’s Heilongjiang Province, has 18 different robots doing all kinds of jobs, from ushering in guests to waiting tables and cooking various dishes. All the robots were designed and created by the Harbin Haohai Robot Company. Chief Engineer Liu Hasheng, they invested around 5 million yuan ($790,000) in the restaurant, with each robot costing 200,000 to 300,000 yuan ($31,500 – $47,000). With an average cost per dinner of between $6 and $10, they won’t be recovering their investment anytime soon, but it is great advertisement for what the robot company can create.

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Awesome Car Restaurant in Taiwan

I have no idea what they're saying, but it looks awesome!

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Airplane Themed Restaurant in China

Don’t you ever which you could just experience eating in a jumbo jet without actually having to pay a ticket and fly to who knows where? Me neither, but apparently there are people out there who love to eat on an airplane, otherwise why would anyone open an A380 jumbo jet themed restaurant, right?

Recently opened in Chongqing, China, the A380 restaurant tries to replicate the interior of the world’s largest passenger airliner, and comes complete with a crew of waitresses trained to talk and act like real stewardesses. The windows, adjustable seats, carpets, and even the cabin lighting have all been inspired by the A380, but luckily you’ll find more than the usual airplane food on the menu. The restaurant covers and area of 600 square meters and currently has 18 employees, including 9 flight attendants that had to go through a series of courses on how to apply their make up and act just like actual stewardesses.

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Incredible Greenhouse Restaurant in Amsterdam

De Kas is a large restaurant and nursery located in a former greenhouse on the outskirts of Amsterdam. Back in 1926 the greenhouse was built to house Amsterdam’s municipal nurseries. All of the plants and flowers used for Amsterdam’s municipal plantings were grown on these grounds and in greenhouse. Over the decades, the nurseries were shut down and the buildings and greenhouse became dilapidated.

About 10 years ago the greenhouse was scheduled for demolition, but chef Gert Jan Hageman saw the building and decided it would be perfect for a restaurant and vegetable garden. Hageman approached the city with the proposal and ended up buying it for just 1 Euro, which he renovated it completely into the restaurant it is today.

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Still has no plan this Valentine's? How about lunch at this waterfall restaurant?

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Hospital Themed Restaurant

This restaurant is called the Hospitalis Restaurant and it’s in Riga, Latvia. The waitresses dress like nurses, and the bartenders dress like surgeons. The drinks are served up in lab flasks, and the customers eat with surgical utensils instead of standard forks, knives or chopsticks.

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Hello Kitty theme restaurant in Beijing

The ‘Hello Kitty Dreams’ restaurant recently opened its doors in Beijing to huge crowds thanks to Hello Kitty-themed decor, uniforms and, of course, Hello Kitty-themed food. Apparently, dining at the restaurant will set you back 160 yuan or about $25 for an average meal—if you can get a reservation that is.

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Alice in Wonderland theme restaurant in Japan

Awesome Alice in Wonderland restaurant design by Eiichi Maruyama and Katsunori Suzuki.

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