How Resy Brought Restaurant Events Back to Life During the Pandemic

When the pandemic made indoor events difficult, the American Express-owned brand brought its restaurant-focused activations outside—popping up everywhere from parks and parking lots to remote hilltops and even a floating barge.

Malibu Supper Club
During the pandemic, Resy has shifted its focus from indoor restaurant events to unconventional outdoor gatherings, like a two-night Supper Club series set on a ranch in Malibu in October. The series, which featured four-course menus from top chefs, also took place in the Hamptons in August.
Photo: Philip Guerette

When your entire brand is focused on restaurants, what do you do when a global pandemic shuts down indoor dining?

That’s the challenge the team at Resy, a technology and media brand centered around booking restaurant reservations, has faced over the last two years. The American Express-owned company typically hosts a robust lineup of events, centered around open-to-the-public programs for Resy as well as more exclusive dining programs for Amex’s American Express Gold Card and Global Dining Access Program.

So during the COVID-19 pandemic, Resy's event team quickly realized it was time to get creative. "The Resy brand experience is really about discovering and deepening the relationship between restaurants and diners," explains Vanessa Leitman, Resy’s head of experiential. "During COVID, we saw pretty early on that our users wanted to support and engage with the restaurants and chefs that they loved, even if they couldn't in the traditional manner of dining in their restaurant."

She continues, "That forced us to really think out of the box and be super innovative. If we weren't able to actually create experiences within restaurants, which is what we were normally doing, how do we take a favorite local restaurant and let a diner try its amazing food in an entirely new way?"

The Resy team put heads together with Shiraz Creative, the brand’s experiential partner. "We wanted to create events that allowed guests to relax and enjoy what Resy is known for—powering the best restaurants in the world—without COVID feeling like the 'elephant in the room,'" says John O'Malley, Shiraz Creative’s director of brand experiences. "Safety protocols were always first priority, but we didn't allow them to sideline our creative process. If anything, it forced us to think in new ways."

The team also thought carefully about what would work in different markets, an important distinction based on changing COVID surges and guidelines. "We spent a lot of time leading up to events making sure that what we were doing correlated to the cultural temperature of a given market at that time, or even multiple markets with the same event. Even before COVID, what works programmatically in Miami might not work in Los Angeles," notes O'Malley. "The cultural and local conversations around COVID were in constant flux this year and became part of our daily conversations. We aimed to create universally appealing programs that weren’t rigid, and adapt them to best fit the moment."The Resy Drive Thru MiamiThe Resy Drive-Thru was held in Los Angeles in October 2020 and in Miami (pictured) in March 2021.Photo: Courtesy of Resy

The brand’s earliest attempt at a COVID-safe activation was the Resy Drive-Thru in Los Angeles, a 10-course tasting menu that guests could enjoy without leaving their cars. Taking place in October 2020, the safety-first gathering gave each car a (masked and COVID-19-tested) server who stayed with them throughout the entire experience, serving them through car windows and clearing each course like they would in a restaurant. While enjoying the food, guests could tune into a customized playlist through their car stereo; each track featured the participating chefs and restaurants sharing the inspiration about the dish. 

The event proved to be wildly popular, selling out 600 tickets in about 10 minutes. "LA was still in major shutdown mode [at the time,] but it was so clear that people wanted to go out safely and experience the restaurants that they love," remembers Leitman. "So that event and the success of it really catapulted us into this thinking of, 'Hey, what else can we do?'"

When it was clear that indoor events would continue being disrupted in 2021, the Resy and Shiraz Creative teams continued strategizing ways to create safe, innovative outdoor events. The Resy Drive-Thru concept came to Miami in March. The brand also hosted outdoor picnics, called Amex Gold Card Picnic in the Park, in various cities in June; thousands of picnic kits—featuring lunchbox-style meals from top restaurants, along with bubble kits, frisbees, sunscreen and more—were distributed to diners across the cities. Picnic in the ParkPicnic in the Park, a series of outdoor picnics held in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston in June, distributed thousands of picnic kits featuring lunchbox-style meals from local restaurants.Photo: Courtesy of Resy

Then there was the Amex Gold Card Pop-Up Diner in September, a traveling outdoor restaurant experience that brought together chefs from top Resy restaurants, all of whom put their own spins on classic diner dishes. There were also Supper Club dinners, held in glamorous outdoor locations in the Hamptons and Malibu; design-forward Yurt Villages that allowed for pod-style dining during the winter months; and a series of successful virtual events called Cook With the Pros. Amex Gold Card Pop-Up DinerThe Amex Gold Card Pop-Up Diner came to Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Brooklyn in September. The traveling outdoor restaurant experience brought together chefs from top Resy restaurants, all of whom put their own spins on classic diner dishes.Photo: Courtesy of Resy

And this past September, the brand pulled off what Leitman describes as "the culmination of everything we’ve done." Meant to launch American Express’s new Global Dining Access program, a new benefit of the platinum card, the Resy and Shiraz Creative teams built a five-day pop-up restaurant located on a 225-foot floating barge in New York’s East River. The space, called Platinum Coast, was decked out with a contemporary design, lush greenery, a live DJ after dark and a limited number of cabanas tables for up to six people. Each night highlighted a different chef, bringing in top names like Kwame Onwuachi, Mike Solomonov, Nancy Silverton, Stephanie Izard, and Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo.

"Building a restaurant on a barge for five days was definitely the culmination of, ‘What else can we do from here? What's going to be a really powerful, impactful moment that’s going to showcase incredible chefs in a new way and get diners really excited?'" says Leitman. Platinum CoastResy and Amex teamed up to host Platinum Coast, 225-foot-long, floating pop-up restaurant on New York's East River, in September. Shiraz Creative outfitted the barge with contemporary design, lush greenery, a live DJ after dark and a limited number of cabanas tables for up to six people.Photo: Teddy Wolff

Platinum CoastIn total, 20 different menus were served at Platinum Coast, with dishes inspired by the chefs' restaurants, hometowns and more.Photo: Sam OrtizAs for the future? Leitman is eager to get back to more traditional events that drive as much business as possible to restaurants. But she expects that this out-of-the-box thinking will remain a priority. "Almost every single one of [these formats] would work in a post-COVID world," she points out.

O'Malley agrees. "We were most successful when we created a strong narrative for guests, whether through experience or design—for example, at Platinum Coast we truly transported guests with a location and build-out that felt nothing like Manhattan, but was only a car ride away from home."

So, what do consumers want from restaurant- and food-focused events right now? Leitman and O'Malley share several specific insights.

1. Diners care about the story. "They want to know more about the places that they're eating, they want to know what they're eating and the story behind it, they want to meet the chef," says Leitman. "One of the reasons I think our events have felt different and have been successful is that we give people a peek behind the curtain, and let them see aspects of the experience or talk to the chef or see the kitchen or different things like that that you don't wouldn't traditionally get."

2. Quality of the food is key. "As much as people love to go to great food events, it can't take away from the food being exceptional—the food should be the star. That's something we don't take for granted," says Leitman. O'Malley adds, "People want great service and even greater food, so it’s important to always remember: hospitality first."

3. People are eager to try new things, especially now. "The drive-thru was a risk—we didn’t know how people were going to react to that, but it ended up as such a fun, different experience," notes Leitman. "Don't be scared. Think out of the box, even if it's a crazy idea, because diners are willing to experience different things and want to try new things."

4. Create a transformative experience. "Guests are excited by dynamic environments, chefs that push the boundaries with their food and event storytelling that makes them feel transported," explains O'Malley. "We are excited to see unsung cuisines come more into the spotlight, how technology can play even more of a role in experiential marketing in the food space, and what innovations and learnings will blossom from the last two years."

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