Spyce Kitchen
Boston-based robotic-powered restaurant engineered by MIT grads
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spyce Kitchen or just Spyce was a robotic-powered restaurant which prepares food in "three minutes or less".[1]
| Spyce | |
|---|---|
| |
 The former Spyce restaurant in downtown Boston | |
 Interactive map of Spyce | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Owner | Wonder |
| Previous owner | Sweetgreen |
| Head chef | Daniel Boulud |
| Location | 241 Washington Street, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, 02201 |
| Coordinates | 42.3579°N 71.0581°W |
| Website | www |
History
MIT mechanical engineering graduates[2] Michael Farid, Brady Knight, Luke Schlueter and Kale Rogers[3] developed the kitchen using seven autonomous work stations to prepare bowl-based meals using healthy ingredients such as kale, beans and grains.[4] The four graduates wanted to make healthy meals more affordable,[5] so they built the robotic technology[6] and initially served the food to students at an MIT dining hall.[7] The group received the $10,000 "Eat It" Lemelson-MIT undergraduate prize in 2016[8] as one of America's top two collegiate inventors in food technology.[9]
The four then teamed up with chef Daniel Boulud to create the new menu for their restaurant.[10][11] Prices started at $7.50 for an entire meal in a bowl[12] at their first real branch, which opened on May 3, 2018, in Boston, Massachusetts.[13] Referred to as the "Spyce Boys",[4] the four founders were inspired by their experiences as hungry student athletes on tight budgets. Spyce Kitchen automated cooking units also clean up after cooking and dirtying the cooking apparatus.[14]
Funding
Spyce raised $21 million in series A funding in September 2018, led by venture capital firms Maveron, Collaborative Fund, and Khosla Ventures.[15]
Restaurants
Spyce operated and then shuttered two restaurants in the Greater Boston area. Their first restaurant was located at 241 Washington St in downtown Boston.[16] Their second restaurant, which opened in February 2021, was located at 1 Brattle Square, in Harvard Square.[16]
Acquisition by Sweetgreen and closure
In 2021, the company was acquired by Sweetgreen, a chain of salad restaurants.[17][18]
Both Spyce restaurants were closed following the Sweetgreen acquisition, "to focus on developing technology for Sweetgreen restaurants". The downtown Boston location closed October 22, 2021,[1] and the Harvard Square location closed February 18, 2022.[2]