Carluccio’s is to become the first major restaurant group to offer diners a virtual reality experience, as part of what the group calls its most significant menu change in its history.
Over fifty thousand pairs of virtual reality glasses will be given away across the group’s 100-strong UK estate. Diners trying updated dishes such as the Carluccio’s seafood linguine will be able to enjoy an “al fresco dining experience in Sicily’s Taormina”.
The new menu, developed alongside Antonio Carluccio, features over 50 changes reflecting the evolving tastes of consumers and complementing the rollout of the ‘new generation’ stores and updated brand signatures, announced earlier this year.
The first restaurant to be made-over was Spitalfields in May followed this month with a half million pound refurbishment of the brand’s flagship store in Covent Garden. Two ‘new generation’ stores will open in Derby’s Intu Centre and Southampton’s West Quay early next month with a further 10 existing sites being transformed within the next 12 months.
Carluccio’s chief executive Neil Wickers said: “The introduction of a significant menu change, the launch of new generation stores and updated brand signatures are a monumental step in Carluccio’s evolution. Our approach to eating out has changed dramatically since the inception of the brand 17 years ago and is no longer just about the food. Today, diners are looking for an experience above all else and by embracing new technologies such as VR, we are confident that Carluccio’s will remain as relevant today as the brand was in 1999.”
