The outdoor dining experience is about to change, as AI integration gives it a distinctly digital flavor.
WOOHOO, a self-styled “restaurant of the future,” will open its doors in September, promising guests a meal imagined by a large language model rather than a flesh and blood chef.
Food will still be cooked and plated by a human brigade, but decision making such as recipe development, plating style, lighting cues, playlist sequencing, even how servers greet a table, will come from “Chef Aiman,” an artificial-intelligence system trained on decades of food science research, and a library of more than 1,000 global recipes.
Cooperation induced by AI: code and cook
“Human cooking will not be replaced,” said co-founder Ahmet Oytun Cakir, who also heads the hospitality firm Gastronaut. “We believe Aiman will elevate ideas and creativity.” The AI’s name is itself a portmanteau, blending “AI” and “man” to signal cooperation between code and cook.
Unlike a traditional chef, Aiman cannot taste or smell. Instead, the model breaks dishes down to their fundamental building blocks, texture, acidity, umami and dozens of other sensory metrics, then recombines those elements into novel flavor pairings.
Early prototypes are handed to a human test kitchen led by celebrated Dubai based chef Reif Othman for a comprehensive feedback that is folded into the next training cycle.
“Their responses to my suggestions help refine my understanding of what works beyond pure data,” Aiman said during an interview, underscoring the circular dialogue between silicon and stove.
Cakir and his partners believe that collaboration will yield more than culinary marvels. One of Aiman’s core design principles is minimizing waste.
The model is programmed to devise dishes that incorporate ingredients restaurants often discard, such as meat trimmings, rendered fats or vegetable offcuts, without sacrificing flavor or presentation.
By doing so, WOOHOO hopes to prove that sustainability alongside haute cuisine in a city famous for excess.
The founders are already looking beyond their flagship dining room. If the concept resonates, they intend to license Aiman to kitchens worldwide, positioning the software as a tool that can shrink food costs, reduce landfill contributions and inject algorithmic imagination into local menus.
“Longer term, we see Chef Aiman helping restaurants everywhere,” Cakir said.
For now, anticipation centers on the 80-seat space taking shape in central Dubai. Construction crews are installing sensor driven lighting that adjusts hue and intensity according to the menu progression.
Programmers are finalizing a service script that can pivot from formal to casual based on guest preferences flagged during reservation. All of it, the founders say, channels Aiman’s data-driven vision of hospitality.
Whether diners will embrace a dinner conceived by a code remains to be tasted.
But come September, Dubai’s newest culinary venture will invite them to decide for themselves, fork in one hand, source code in the other.
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