A new Brooklyn restaurant gives dinner and a show a whole new meaning.
Cameras in the restaurant will broadcast the kitchen, the staff and even the customers live to Facebook, Periscope and YouTube.
Live On Air, at Flatbush Avenue and Seventh Avenue, is expected to open by the end of the year.
Confessionals from the waitstaff, interviews and performances from customers, and cooking tips from executive chef Bobby Bouyer will all be broadcast.
"The technology has finally arrived," said owner Joe Barbour.
Broadcasting live to an international audience has never been cheaper thanks to social media. Barbour thought up the idea 18 years ago after watching The Truman Show.
"Truman Burbank's [Jim Carrey] entire life was broadcasted and he didn't even know it," Barbour said.
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But Live On Air is not hiding the cameras. They won't be focused on a specific table or diner, rather on shots of the restaurant, the broadcast booth or the kitchen.
"At some point you might be on camera, but it's not in your face," Barbour said. A large TV hangs above the bar that will also air the broadcast.
The interactive broadcast booth, set in the front of the restaurant with two red directors chairs, offers customers a shot to be the "star of the show." Barbour or another staffer will interview the customer and livestream their discussion on social platforms @liveonairbk.
Waitstaff will start their day with a live confessional on Periscope. Barbour intends on hiring servers who are extroverts -- aspiring actors and actresses, performers and artists.
Barbour said the creative staff have an opportunity to audition for the world at their "survival job" while still making rent and building their brand.
As far as food, executive chef Bobby Bouyer said his menu is a mix of Louisiana comfort food and American classics. Options like Po'boys, turducken or crayfish may be available as specials, but nachos, grass-fed beef burgers and chicken and waffles take center stage.
"I didn't want the menu to be scary," Bouyer said.
When the cameras are on the kitchen, Bouyer said he'll often tell a farm-to-table story as many of his ingredients come from farmer's markets in Long Island.
Customers who choose to livestream their Live On Air experience (and delicious meal) to their personal accounts will receive 10 percent off their check.
