At Nakashita restaurant you’ll find a touch of Brazil, Mediterranean notes and, unmistakably, the aromas of Japanese cuisine. Majorcan designer Ignasi Forteza and Brazilian sushi chef Marcio Araujo teamed up in 2010 with a reinvent-or-die mindset. That’s how Nakashita was born, a Barcelona restaurant that also has an online menu.
Yours is a very Japanese restaurant, but your menu has touches of other cuisines. Why? Especially now, when Japanese food is so trendy.
We didn’t want to be a traditional Japanese restaurant because I always felt that, for that, the owner and chef should be from Japan. So we decided to do something different, fusing Japanese cuisine with Brazilian and Mediterranean food. People are really happy with the result, and for us it’s what sets us apart.
Why did you decide to create a restaurant with an online home delivery menu?
When we opened the restaurant, we noticed we were getting lots of phone orders and thought a website would help us handle them. We also believe it’s a way to reach more people.
“With the online restaurant we can offer a wider service;
it’s like having a virtual table”
I understand your physical restaurant seats about 15 diners.
Yes, the dining room seats 15, and with the online restaurant we can offer a wider service; it’s like having a virtual table. That said, we don’t want it to overwhelm us, because we always want to deliver good service and quality. Right now the physical restaurant is doing very well and online is a service that helps us, but if we grow further, we’ll open another venue.
When you decided to move into eCommerce, what was essential for you?
We were clear that we wanted the website to show our food exactly as we make it. To bring what we serve in the restaurant to the customer’s home while keeping the same qualities and quality. That’s why our online menu has no hot dishes, simply because we can’t guarantee they’ll reach the diner’s home at the right temperature.
What advice would you give someone looking to open a digital restaurant or an online food store?
From my own experience, I’d say follow your common sense and try to do things the way you’d want them done for you. I didn’t want any online product to differ from what we serve in the Barcelona restaurant because, although they’re two different business lines, they belong to the same brand.
And focusing on the restaurant, I’d advise always letting quality guide your work, even if it means lower revenue in the short term.
through the website has made their lives easier”
Do you think the online restaurant and home delivery have helped you build customer loyalty?
Yes, many customers came to the website after visiting the restaurant, others through word of mouth, and being able to check the menu and order online has made their lives easier. We know because when we first launched the online menu, we ran a short customer satisfaction survey. We like hearing their opinion, and the responses were positive.
I’ve seen you’re on social media. How does that fit with an online restaurant?
It gives you tools you don’t have in the physical restaurant. We’re still exploring them, we’ve run some promotions, but we’re sure they’re a very positive element.
And finally, any anecdotes about the online restaurant?
One day I was in Paris and forgot to turn on the online restaurant. Thanks to new technology, though, I was able to open the system from my phone, thousands of kilometers away. That day we got 10 orders.
