Generative AI hits Bentonville's fine dining
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
It's a sommelier bot. A wine whisperer. A way to impress your date à la Cyrano de Bergerac. The Preacher's Son in Bentonville last week quietly launched an AI chatbot that will recommend wine pairings.
- It's called Becca, the preacher's daughter.
Why it matters: Generative AI can make quick work of the mundane, but some fear a homogenization effect, reducing spontaneous creativity as it feeds on its own input-output over and over.
The big picture: Most restaurant use of AI leans into improving efficiency — customer orders, pantry forecasting, cooking — for quick-service establishments.
- But some high-end applications are emerging — AI-inspired dishes and decor are coming, Nation's Restaurant News reports, in an effort to elevate the customer experience.
How it works: Becca is a chatbot located on the Preacher's Son website, found in the lower-right portion of its menu page.
- Tell it of any special occasion for your visit and what dish you're craving. It returns a conversational response tailored to your input.
Its interactions are programmed to match the "personality" of the Preacher's Son and will point you toward an available wine or the bar's cocktails.
Case in point: Axios told Becca it was a date night, we wanted to buy by the glass and requested a good high-end and middle-priced wine that goes best with the short rib.
- "For a high-end red wine by the glass to pair with the short rib, I would recommend the Château la Grangère Grand Cru from St. Emilion, France," Becca said. It's $23 a glass.
- There was also a midrange option — Lamole di Lamole "Maggiolo" Chianti Classico from Italy — at $14 a glass.
Yes, but: Next, Axios asked for "super cheap" options and Becca recommended a Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley, Oregon, for $15 per glass — more costly than its midrange Italian wine.
Context: The Preacher's Son is operated by Ropeswing, a part of the Runway Group holding company owned by Walmart founder Sam Walton's grandsons, Steuart and Tom Walton.
Between the lines: The chatbot won't likely be a moneymaker for the restaurant, but Ropeswing rejected the term "gimmick."
- The tech may help people feel less intimidated about making a wine selection and more open to talking with the server, Emmanuel Gardinier, president of hospitality operations for Ropeswing, told Axios.
- When Gardinier played with the application, Becca recommended a wine from South Africa with which he was unfamiliar.
What they're saying: Thomas Altman, chief innovation officer of startup BettyBot AI, lives in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and happens to be a certified sommelier.
- "If you've got your wine cellar stored in a database … and find the top three recommendations and describe them, I think it would do a phenomenal job," he said.
What we're watching: Gardinier said he'd like to use the technology to make meal recommendations, but that food allergies present several challenges to overcome.