The Rise Of Open Plan Kitchens

January 08, 2022

Mastering the technical and culinary facets of the kitchen helps to facilitate not only the proprietor’s vision for a dramatic, edifying, innovative, and transparent restaurant experience but also the diners, believes Chef Kasivisvanth-Radisson Blu Atria, Bengaluru.

The key to successfully planning and outfitting a crowd-pleasing open kitchen is to start with the intent, careful execution, and a full understanding of kitchen and dining area operations. In the quest to be the change in the industry inclusive environment is a must where customers and back of the house staff connects. Open kitchen design concepts are proving to be a unique selling proposition for restaurants and other hospitality operations. Whether fad or long-term business strategy, open kitchens seem to awaken much interest among certain consumer segments or at least many restaurateurs believe that such development is taking place. In the open kitchen, everything is on display including pots and pans and raw ingredients.

Getting in the habit of watching chefs do their thing on TV has obviously boosted the fascination with what goes in restaurant kitchens. “It’s just that the open kitchen is being embraced not simply for practical reasons but as a way to entertain and make diners comfortable. The USP of this is Chefs can showcase their unique culinary skill at the same time gauging customer reactions and receiving immediate feedback from simple expressions. Customers – especially foodies – can feed their curiosity about how their orders are prepared and the dramatic behind-the-scenes happenings,” observes Chef Kasivisvanth. “While many different elements contribute to the memorable dining experiences in hospitality scenarios, the open kitchen concept not only provides entertainment in the form of the display of cooks’ at work but also ‘transparency’, that is customers being able to see first, how food is handled,” avers Chef Kasivisvanath.

Role of kitchen tools and appliances

Manning, planning, and staffing play a key role in preparing the food menu. Choosing the right appliance, equipment for the food menu is from where it starts. The country is equipped with a lot of resources instrumental in transforming the age-old kitchen with high-end kitchen appliances, technology, chemicals, and much more.

Baby/Mini/Small Offset Spatula is a handy tool for every pastry chef. Plastic Bowl Scraper is the simple invention of a stiff piece of plastic, with one edge lightly curved, which is essential to working with the lightest foams to the densest bread dough. By holding the plastic it becomes an extension of the arm, allowing folding, stirring, or scraping with more control and precision, and because it’s light and thin, it’s accessible at all times. Induction Burner accuracy is such that it cooks the food five times faster than a home stove, a must. The vacuum Sealer on the kitchen counter is a blessing as it helps to keep the fridge organised and fresh — just like the restaurant. It’s also great for protecting food in the freezer and, of course, for cooking sous-vide in the sink.

Chef’s kitchen knife is an indispensable cooking tool along with a top-quality cutting board that is the kitchen knife's best friend on the cooking counter. Opting for a plastic or wood version comes down to personal preference. A set of durable stainless steel bowls — a must for everything from tossing salads to whipping cream for desserts. A set of nesting bowls that fit inside each other for space-saving storage is a clever gadget for pureeing vegetables and fruit, getting lumps out of soup or gravy, whipping cream, whisking eggs, mixing batters, and much more.

Microplane Grater is a versatile kitchen tool with razor-sharp stainless steel teeth that grates citrus zest, hard cheeses, and spices in a snap. Last but not least Combo ovens are a must in every kitchen. Induction hob, aesthetics-wise, is a good choice considering individual choice and preference. The electrical appliances used in this kitchen are energy efficient.

Health, Hygiene and much more

Cleanliness, hygiene, and organisation play a crucial role in engaging the customers in both layout and operations. Diners make judgments about food and experience based on who and what can be seen inside restaurant kitchens. Because of this, embracing the growing open-kitchen trend is a win-win situation in terms of motivating the staff to work hard and driving customer satisfaction.

Creative things, styling, plating, presentation adds a charm to any dish. Locations and heights of transparent sneeze guards and partitions are determined to shield kitchen areas from airborne contaminants. The growing emphasis on the use of local produce and implementing ‘greening’, energy- and water-saving strategies are shaping the present and future of this sector. These environmental pressures are those factors significantly dictating the way operations perform in terms of food preparation and delivery.

Increasing demands also underline the importance of space allocation and space optimisation. Also, an important factor is the staff’s sanitation habits play a crucial role in determining the restaurant’s reputation and image.

Significance of Interiors and Architecture

The architects and interior designers, in consultation with the chef work, strive to create a place that makes kitchen operations easy, the location of the kitchen tools, appliances, equipment is handy, hassle-free. The use of architectural elements, such as screens and soffits prevents light from bleeding into the cooking area. Restaurant operators are gradually migrating away from fluorescent and incandescent kitchen lighting, which are harsh and disruptive to patrons. LED lighting is used in open kitchens for the most favourable function. The placement and positioning of these lightings are such that the ambiance is warm, relaxing, pleasant, and inviting.

The implications on kitchen design

One potential issue chefs in the kitchen face are that kitchens are increasingly being built smaller in size. Given this trend, proper kitchen design may prove decisive in preventing or discouraging potentially dangerous situations such as cross-tracking a positional situation when employees are forced to cross paths. For instance, minimizing cross-tracking could also decrease the likelihood of accidents between chefs carrying sharp, heavy, or hot cooking tools and service staff carrying trays or even walking empty-handed. Apart from the layout, the efficiency of operation, equipment, lighting, and other elements contributes to maximizing productivity while minimizing accidents, stress, and discomfort.

There is an integral correlation between the physical environment and the overall satisfaction of the customer which not only influences customers but also has a direct influence on employees’ motivation to perform their jobs and duties at a high-quality level.

It’s no secret that running a restaurant is like putting on a show every single day. The growth in the number of open restaurant kitchens, which allow both chefs and diners to observe each other, certainly aligns with the ‘restaurant as theatre’ metaphor. Transparency between customers and providers is proving to be a blockbuster equation.

An empathetic connection between the producer of a product and the customer tends to improve the overall experience for both parties. When a chef can look their diners in the eyes, that interaction provides a deeper meaning for the work the chef is doing. When work has more meaning, it also tends to get done with more quality.

The Rise Of Open Plan Kitchens

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