Levi Lays His Roots in Technology

Levi Roots’ new Caribbean Smokehouse in Westfield Stratford City, has opened in a blaze of technology, in what is believed to be the first UK restaurant to offer a complete digital footprint of the entire customer journey, through a full capacity management experience.

Working in partnership with Call Systems Technology (CST) and Flypay, Levi Roots was in search of innovative technology solutions for what he knew would be a demanding front and back of house operation. As a non-reservation restaurant, customers are first encouraged to join the virtual ‘Rasspass’ by downloading the Caribbean Smokehouse app. The ‘Pocket Rastaraunt’ powered by Flypay, has cleverly integrated Flypay’s ‘Pay at Table’ solution with the new DineTime queue management technology, in a world first integration of waitlist technology with a pay at table solution. The customer is then notified as to how long the wait will be, and when their table is ready. Once seated, the customer’s bill is automatically started in the Caribbean Smokehouse app.

The unique footprint of the customer journey continues with the seamless integration of DineTime Host with QSR Automations ConnectSmart® Kitchen (CSK) back-of-house technology. The technology works to deliver consistently good quality food at record breaking speeds – from order to table within 6-8 minutes. In addition to turning orders quickly at Caribbean Smokehouse, the intelligent integration ensures the operator can stay ahead of each and every part of the customer journey, from how long it takes for each table’s food order to go to the kitchen, to how long it takes for a table’s meals to be prepared, to finally how long it takes for the food to be delivered to the table.

Continuing the flow for customers by removing the hassle points is where Flypay, once again, steps in to conclude the experience. Customers of Caribbean Smokehouse can check, split their bill, add tips, and pay their bill from their smartphone, without needing to find a waiter – all in under a minute; where traditionally, waiting to flag down a waiter and settle the bill could take anywhere between 10-12 minutes.

Levi Roots, Co-Founder of Levi Roots Caribbean Smokehouse commented: “My dream has always been to open my own restaurant serving fabulicious, authentic Caribbean food which would make my Grandmother proud, and to say it is finally a reality is just incredible. Alongside great food and great music, Steve Phillips our Head of Operations, had the vision to recognise that technology could play a key role in enhancing the Caribbean Smokehouse experience. It is due to his knowledge and expertise that we’ve been able to explore and showcase our innovative spirit by building it into the bones of the business.

He continues: “CST and Flypay’s smart technology means we’re the first UK restaurant to have a full digital footprint of our customer’s journey which is a powerful place to start. We want to give our customers the most amazing, ‘lowdahmercy’ experience from start to finish and this technology adds that final bit of spice to our menu.”

Ashley Sheppard, Group Commercial Director, Call Systems Technology commented: “It is fantastic to be working with such an iconic brand as Levi Roots and the team at Caribbean Smokehouse to deliver a first for the hospitality industry, by way of a complete technological footprint across the entire customer journey! Each aspect of the technology used within Caribbean Smokehouse has been designed with both the operator and customer in mind to deliver a memorable customer experience, which starts with the wait list, to guest management, historical table management data and linking effortlessly with integration to the kitchen and Flypay’s innovative mobile technology.”

Tom Weaver, CEO, Flypay commented: “The Smokehouse team, Flypay, Call Systems Technology and Comtrex Systems, the POS solution, had an ambition to create an app based experience that creates something transformational. In addition to driving table turns, the operator wanted to create an amazing customer experience by removing the pain points in the customer journey to create more flow and less hassle. Caribbean Smokehouse is all about good times and creating a bit of magic to ensure the good times flow. Integrating our technology with DineTime in this way, combined with our rapid Comtrex integration, is a true industry first, demonstrating how powerful integrated technology can be for both the operator and customer.”