As of: March 7, 2024, 1:01 p.m
By: Lukas Schierlinger
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Patrick Hennig wants to digitize the entire restaurant experience.
The app founder promises that people should not be left behind.
Munich/Berlin – “For my girlfriend, I am the most impatient person in the world,” says Patrick Hennig in a video conversation with our editorial team.
Samples are available when the couple visits restaurants together.
“If I end up having to wait ten minutes for the bill, it drives me crazy.
Even if the food beforehand was great.”
Hennig is co-founder and CEO of the “luca” app.
He is currently working on making his evening excursions more relaxing for him.
His app is intended to bundle all the important functions of a restaurant visit on one platform.
From choosing the restaurant, reserving a table and ordering to paying at the end.
“Luca” earns money from every transaction that goes through the system.
Founder wants to digitize restaurant visits: “So far there is still a lot of Stone Age”
During the corona pandemic, “luca” established itself as a program for contact tracing in the catering industry.
Skeptics were particularly bothered by the concept of central data storage.
Several federal states let their contracts with “luca” expire.
“We learned a lot and certainly didn’t do everything right,” Hennig looks back today.
“But we stand by the name of the app and our history.”
Before Corona, he had no professional contact with the catering industry, says Hennig.
The “terrible fragmentation of digital systems” had long been a thorn in his side.
“So far there is still a lot of Stone Age.
Our app is intended to simplify the entire process for visitors and relieve the burden on restaurateurs who have completely different concerns.” Hennig refers to a lack of staff and increased food prices.
He claims: “Locals make more sales when guests can reorder at any time.” In the next step, “luca” wants to intensify its cooperation with the hotel industry.
In the restaurant: This is how ordering and payment work with the “luca” app
“Guests can easily access the menu in the app using their smartphone, either via an NFC tag or a QR code at the table.
With just a few clicks you can choose your food and drinks.
The order is then forwarded directly to the cash register system.
The advantage for guests: They no longer have to wait for service and can always keep track of their bill, which can then be paid using the app via Apple Pay, Google Pay or credit card.”
Source: press release “luca”
For many people, a visit to a restaurant is primarily a social experience.
They go out to meet friends or joke with the waiter they have known for many years.
How are these moments supposed to be preserved when the entire evening is optimized - and in the end there may be no staff left at all?
“We techies often don’t think about people,” admits Hennig.
“That’s a big mistake.” He just wants to “digitize where it makes sense.” And thus create even more time for valuable exchange between visitors and staff.
“But not during the payment process.
This has often been stressful for both parties, for example if the card reader doesn’t work.”
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“luca” founder on gastronomic experiences: “Why should I waste my life unnecessarily?”
“People should remain the linchpin,” explains the “luca” CEO.
“In a slightly more upscale restaurant, I want the waiter to explain to me what I'm eating.” The situation is different at the restaurant, where he and his colleagues often have lunch.
“We order from the office upstairs and pick it up downstairs.
Brilliant.
People in line think: 'What the hell are you doing?'” The “pick-up feature” offered by “luca” is particularly suitable for cafés and bars with a high volume at lunchtime, says Hennig.
“luca” CEO Patrick Hennig.
© luca
At the end of the conversation, the app founder spoke again about his impatience.
He has often asked himself in the queue at a Berlin beer garden: “Why should I waste my life unnecessarily?
If only I could do what someone enters into the system at the checkout with my cell phone.”
So far, “luca” has mainly worked with restaurants in Berlin. In the second part of our conversation, CEO Patrick Hennig reports on how a model experiment is running in Munich.