Dropbox Cafeteria Awarded A Michelin Star
The 2016 Michelin Guide stars have been released, and among the many big names on the list is one unlikely winner: The Tuck Shop, Dropbox’s office cafeteria, was one of 51 restaurants in San Francisco to be recognised for its exceptional food quality. Yet Dropbox’s cafeteria doesn’t cost $100 dollars a meal. Dropbox employees can eat Michelin star quality food every day for free, paid for by the company.
Silicon Valley tech companies are well known for their lavish perks ranging from free personal trainers to ball pits and helicopter rides, but almost every workplace provides free snacks, lunches, and dinners for their employees. Some companies like Dropbox have in-house professional chefs who prepare sumptuous meals for employees every day. The Dropbox Tuck Shop’s Facebook page displays pictures of mouthwatering yet healthy dishes like “Seared Tombo Tuna with Sweet Yam Salad and Miso-Harissa Vinaigrette.”
Techies have long engaged in tech company food tours, usually by dining with a friend who works at a company. Knowledge of which companies have good or bad food is usually disseminated through word of mouth.
This year, the Michelin guide listed Asana and Stripe’s cafeterias as Michelin Recommended restaurants. However, another “unicorn” startup did not fare so well: Square — known for its smoothie bar, healthy food options, and internal hipster coffee bar — didn’t make the list this year due to budget cutbacks after a disappointing IPO.
In light of Dropbox’s struggles with growing its revenue and after shutting down two of its flagship apps that were slow to gain users, rumors suggest that executives have discussed pivoting Dropbox from a cloud storage technology company into either a high-end restaurant or a t-shirt printing company.
In the aftermath of the announcement, multiple sources at Dropbox informed us that many of their friends had just messaged them asking to “catch up over lunch or dinner… maybe at your office?”
