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Ben Leventhal would rather tell you where to sit at a restaurant than what to order. \u201cIf you go to Balthazar, sit on table 62,\u201d he says, sipping his tequila. \u201cIt\u2019s on the left side of the room and you\u2019ll get the best views.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the last two decades, the forty-something New Yorker has been instrumental to the rise of foodie culture<\/a>. First, he told us where to eat, launching news site Eater in 2005\u2014since acquired by Vox Media. Then, he helped us to reserve tables, co-founding Resy in 2014, which catalyzed \u201creservation culture<\/a>,\u201d by funneling the availability of more than 16,000 restaurants into one app. Today, he is immersed in his latest restaurant tech venture: Blackbird Labs, a shared loyalty program for eateries, where diners receive points in the form of crypto tokens.\u00a0<\/p>\n For Leventhal, the new venture is about more than finding a new way to blend technology and cuisine. At a time when many small restaurants face existential threats to their business model, he hopes Blackbird can provide them with a new level of economic savvy\u2014and in doing so, keep alive the sort of venues he describes as his \u201chappy place.\u201d<\/p>\n On a somber August afternoon in Manhattan, Leventhal knows just the place to escape the showers darkening the city: NoHo\u2019s dark and trendy Temple Bar where menus and faces are read by candlelight, no matter the hour or season. With mahogany walls, a checkerboard floor, and pay phone, the 90s decor pays homage to the decade when the restaurant first gained notoriety\u2014an era when the art world would flock inside to drink martinis out of its signature, oversized glasses.<\/p>\n We are at Temple Bar since it is one of Blackbird\u2019s early patrons, but also because it reflects his fascination with the spectacle of dining. \u201cIt\u2019s actually not really about the food,\u201d he admits, before gesturing to Andy Warhol\u2019s disco ball in the corner, speculating on the story behind it. \u201cSeeing restaurants do what they do well\u2014I get really excited,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n But even as iconic spots like Temple Bar maintain their mystique, Leventhal also knows a hard truth: profit margins of restaurants have been in steady decline. Food costs keep climbing, labor shortages persist post-pandemic, and rent has soared.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite this, the number of new restaurant listings on Yelp hit an all-time high<\/a> last year. And in June, New York legislators even passed a bill<\/a> banning reservation markets, where Resy bookings were selling for up to $1,000. \u201cThey\u2019re more popular now\u2014that\u2019s what\u2019s curious about it,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Given all this, Leventhal believes the restaurants he loves have a fighting chance if they can figure out how to make more money from customers walking through their door\u2014especially the regular ones.<\/p>\n In tech and crypto jargon, Blackbird is a decentralized eat-to-earn app. In practical terms, this means that users who frequent restaurants that use Blackbird earn what the app calls \u201c$FLY<\/a> points.\u201d Another way to think of it is as an old-school loyalty rewards program built on new-fangled blockchain technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n Transactions involving FLY are stamped onto a spin-off blockchain (a \u201cLayer 2\u201d in crypto speak) called Base<\/a> that was built by crypto giant Coinbase<\/a> with the goal of reducing the stiff transaction costs that can come from using the primary Ethereum blockchain.\u00a0<\/p>\n Diners care no more about the nature of Blackbird\u2019s blockchain than they do about the wires transmitting their Visa<\/a> payments. But most will care about the perks they can receive from accumulating FLY points such as complimentary dishes, welcome drinks and last-minute tables.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vance Spencer, co-founder of venture capital firm Framework Ventures, told Fortune<\/em> that he uses the app everyday, as his favorite breakfast spot just so happened to be on the network. The perks? He\u2019s not paid for coffee in six months. As of July, users have also been able to pay the check in-app with FLY, via the payments network, Blackbird Pay<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blackbird builds upon what Leventhal has learnt about dining culture throughout his career. That is, in cities like NYC, exclusivity is for sale. For example, a customer is more inclined to book a table if they can see it\u2019s the last one, or a spot on the waitlist opens up at the final hour. Noticing this, Resy commodified the reservation itself: it \u201cbecomes the main event,\u201d the company wrote in a recent blog post<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the case of Temple Bar, the historic venue\u2019s embrace of blockchain is undetectable to the naked eye. But, there\u2019s one item, devoid of 90s charm, that gives it away: The so-called \u201ccheck-in\u201d point. Blackbirders scan what appears to be a metal hockey puck upon arrival, and to open a new check. The blockchain records where they ate, how they ordered, and what they spent, to estimate their lifetime value. Businesses, which pay $89 month to use Blackbird, can then spot when it\u2019s worth offering a free drink or the best table. \u201cIf you do that repeatedly, then you\u2019re on the path to economic viability,\u201d Leventhal says.<\/p>\n Blackbird\u2019s thesis is compelling, especially when laid out by the charismatic and hyper-rational Leventhal. But on the frontlines of the restaurants it is designed to save, the service is a work in progress. Moments before his arrival at Temple Bar, his publicist asks the server for \u201cthe puck\u201d\u2014only to receive a look of bemusement in response.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I see the Blackbird device at a restaurant, I try to strike up a conversation about the app with the hosts or ma\u00eetre d\u2019,\u201d one user told Fortune<\/em>, on the condition of anonymity due to working in crypto. \u201cBut they usually have little to say about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Even if restaurant staff appear perplexed or indifferent to the app, it appears to be getting traction among a more critical constituency: diners. According to a Blackbird spokesperson, adoption has increased 10-fold during the year-or-so it\u2019s been live and its roster now includes about 0.6% of the city\u2019s restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n Still, if Blackbird is going to induce customers to use it, a certain threshold of businesses must join, in order to incentivize downloads. \u201cI haven\u2019t really benefited yet as a casual user,\u201d the customer added.<\/p>\n When asked about the adoption curve, Leventhal acknowledged there is a threshold to spark virality. While he did not disclose where that tipping point may lie, it\u2019s \u201clower than people think,\u201d he insists. \u201cIn the meantime, trust us to curate great restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n The task of persuading restaurants and users to sign up will likely be smoother given that Leventhal appears clear-eyed about the appeal of crypto\u2014or lack of it\u2014for the average diner. He acknowledges that blockchain is unlikely to be a selling point for the suits in Le Bernardin, or the It Girls at Clandestinos.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat would not be a sell that works,\u201d he says. And for the end-user, the crypto element isn\u2019t noticeable. \u201cCrypto people are just obsessed with putting the word \u2018crypto\u2019 before things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Leventhal never set out to become a crypto founder. Before Blackbird, he was merely a \u201ccurious observer\u201d of the industry. Rather, during the early days of the pandemic, in a conversation with venture capitalist Fred Wilson, partner of Union Square Ventures, he articulated a nebulous idea about creating a universal currency between restaurants. Crypto was only mentioned later, as the technology that made the most sense to bring it to life. Indeed, the blockchain component is what enables restaurants to share customer data and trade a single currency.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ostensibly, Blackbird is a loyalty program, but at its core is Leventhal\u2019s vision for a shared, growing pool of capital\u2014FLY\u2019s market cap\u2014that is kept within the hospitality industry. Theoretically, this means a user can earn FLY by eating at one restaurant, but then deploying it another, where they never spend a dime.\u00a0<\/p>\nDining out takes off, yet restaurants are in decline\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Eat-to-earn crypto tokens<\/h2>\n
The path to adoption<\/h2>\n
Keeping value in the industry\u00a0<\/h2>\n