When restaurant owner Nick Kokonas saw reservations dwindle from fully-booked to zero in Hong Kong-based restaurants that used his booking service Tock, he realized the U.S. was next. Kokonas knew restaurants here, including those in his co-owned The Alinea Group, would use the reservation system in innovative ways to stay in business during the shutdown.
Kokonas introduced features like contactless payments and an electronic method of rearranging tables (similar to a video game) to maintain social distancing. He also added 2,000 new members to Tock’s roster of clients.