Foodverse comes to town

A city restaurant joins the virtual world in order to build a community of foodies

Farzi Cafe in UB City is one among the first restaurants in the city to join the metaverse bandwagon. The restaurant has joined hands with OneRare, a metaverse gaming company.

This is a juxtaposition of the metaverse and the real world, says Zorawar Kalra, owner of the restaurant chain. “We are combining the two worlds by bringing our restaurants into the virtual world. The architects who designed our physical restaurants are also involved in designing the virtual ones,” he tells Metrolife.

Farzi Cafe will be a part of the ‘foodverse’ by OneRare, which houses many globally popular chefs and their restaurants. How does the new ‘foodverse’ work? You get to play games online in the virtual world, win points or coupons, which you then get to avail at the physical restaurants.

The brand has several games planned for potential customers to play across the globe. “One of the games we’re planning is a treasure hunt. As a player, you get to choose a dish of your choice, find the ingredients for the dish, win points through that and then avail those points at the nearest Farzi Cafe restaurant,” he explains. The development stage of the virtual world is currently underway. “We’re hoping that in the next few months we’ll have a full digital presence on the metaverse. The idea behind it is to build a community and to introduce the restaurant to more people,” adds Zorawar.

However, the concept might take some time to pick up in the city, he adds. “Right now, the metaverse is not going to give you business. There are going to be slow adoption rates but it is going to have a trickle effect and eventually get big. So, it is an avenue that restaurants must consider,” he says.