Any idea why restore is designed this way?

[fardream]

1) the phone needs to be reset before a restore, and it can only be done through cellular network. If anything went wrong in the process (such as poor reception of att), the phone needed to be reset again. The restore only happens in the process of setting up the phone for the first time.
2) The only things that will be restored are the extra apps you've downloaded, and some settings for the phone. Settings for NFC, WiFi, lock screen, keyboards, etc, will not be restored. Start screen configurations will not be restored either. No settings for apps will be restored.

Better than nothing, I guess

 

[Rich Edmonds]

1. This is so you can do it while not at home or nearby a WiFi network. If you're phone is unusable while you're out shopping, you can reset it and download all your content again through the most recent backup. Why there isn't an option for this to be done via WiFi is another question.
2. My only assumption is because the apps aren't actually installed on the Windows Phone you're setting up. They have to be downloaded after the device is working again. Same goes for the start screen, it can't configure the start screen with tiles of apps that aren't available until the phone has downloaded and installed them (some apps may not download automatically - I had to kickstart 5 of them), as for NFC, WiFi and lock screen, I can only assume wireless networks are not included for security reasons.