Its Friday night and the line is out the door. The bar is six deep and people with reservations have been waiting over an hour. Yet the campers at table seven refuse to move, despite having finished dinner and dessert long ago.
I move to the end of the bar, set the selector to seven and press cook.
In the floor beneath table seven, a small shutter silently opens and a fan begins pumping out heat. In a matter of minutes the campers are screaming for a check, which the waiter swiftly processes. As they leave I switch seven to freeze; the temperature is corrected with a blast of cold air as a team of busboys quickly preps the table.
Schwarzenegger, party of two? Your table is ready. This way, please.
This system is also fully capable of providing fine temperature control at each individual table, tailoring the restaurant experience and as a reward for regular patrons.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Fussbudget. Is everything all right?"
"It's a little cold in here. Could you please turn the heat up a bit?"
"Right away, Mrs. Fussbudget."