Dale From Top Chef Will Make Dumplings At Newark Airport

The year is 2016. Worn down by the soul-draining experience that is modern air travel, you begin hallucinating, imagining a Top Chef alumni slinging pork and chive dumplings in Newark Airport as you wait to board your flight to Portland.

But this is no fever dream. United Airlines’ $120 million redesign of its terminal at Newark International Airport is, in fact, very real, and will include more than just Dale Talde’s world famous dumplings, sold from his new Little Purse restaurant in the terminal.

Set to open next year, some 55 new dining establishments will grace the remodeled Terminal C at Newark, and will include everything from Dale’s dumplings, to gourmet pizza and Swedish meatballs. Designed by the Rockwell Group, Parts and Labor Design, David Mexico Group, and Crème, the new United terminal will also feature thousands of iPads for weary travelers who just don’t want to deal with people when they sidle up to the planned ramen bar.

Here’s a look at how the new terminal’s designers say it will shape up.

The chef made his name on the TV show, and gathers big crowds at his Brooklyn restaurant, which earned praise for its signature pretzel pork and chive dumplings.

The LED-lit Kaedama ramen bar will glow in the evenings, creating a great pre-flight date spot.

So many iPads. Throughout the 100,000 square-foot terminal, you’ll find iPads at nearly every turn–6,000 of them to be exact. The model is reminiscent to Delta’s terminals at LaGuardia and JFK, and eliminates the need for human contact if a diner so desires.

And many others featuring “bespoke” wood and designs intended to conjure a European town square. You might not even want to board your flight to Copenhagen because who can actually get a table at Noma anyway?

Some of the restaurants will be able to change from a morning bakery to an evening Italian deli with the turn of a wall, allowing vendors to make the most of the glitzy new space.

Check out more on the redesign from Bloomberg.