Bon Appétit is branching out from its print and digital roots, as it gears up to launch a new dining experience at JFK Airport. According to a report by Eater New York, the 70-year-old food media brand will debut a branded restaurant and market in the airport's new Terminal One. The initiative is just one facet of Editor-in-Chief Jamila Robinson's strategy to adapt the publication to current audience behaviors.
Robinson, who took the helm in 2023, is making moves to not only preserve but also expand Bon Appétit's clout through a multi-tiered expansion plan. This includes next year's opening of the JFK restaurant and market, complete with a bakery, deli, coffee bar, and an upscale restaurant and bar area. The new space is slated to serve globally-inspired dishes and even features screens to display the magazine’s video content, some of which will also be available on flights. "We want to be sure that food is at the center of everything people are doing, whether they're cooking at home, traveling or scrolling on their phones," Robinson told Forbes in a recent profile.
The magazine is also launching an AI kitchen assistant, tapping into Bon Appétit's extensive recipe archive to answer culinary queries around the clock. This digital helper is designed to provide real-time assistance for home cooks, akin to a "modern-day Butterball turkey hotline," as described by Robinson in her discussion with Forbes. At a time when brands across various industries are exploring how to best integrate artificial intelligence, Bon Appétit aims to leverage AI to enrich its audience's cooking experiences.
Additionally, Bon Appétit is preparing to unveil its first "Gear of the Year Awards," a curated list of kitchen products recommended to their readers. This move is seen to further monetize the brand's reputation for product authority, accumulated over seven decades of testing and reviewing culinary tools. "This is the first time we've pulled all our recommendations together into one entity," Robinson stated in her interview with Forbes. The awards aim to recognize the top product launches and long-term favorites within the culinary space.
