Food Flight: Roots 657 Explores the Future of Restaurant Deliveries

On Thursday morning, Chef Chris Rieloff attached a to-go box with one of Roots 657’s signature brisket sandwiches and a side of mac and cheese to the tether of a long-endurance quadcopter and watched as it was flown to a neighboring field and lowered it to the ground from 100 in the air.

It was a demonstration of things to come—someday relatively soon.

As federal regulators continue to develop the rules that will govern commercial use of the uncontrolled airspace—below 400 feet—innovators are exploring the opportunities that advances in drone technology offer.

The Oct. 7 test flight involved three such partners: the chefs at Roots 657 in Lucketts; the team from Xelevate, the new unmanned systems flight facility located nearby; and a contingent from Michigan-based drone manufacturer Vayu Aerospace.

Roots 657 co-founder and Chef Rich Rosendale said the project grew from an informal conservation with members of the Xelevate team.

“They came down to the culinary…