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For this reason, restaurants all over the world are innovating and perfecting the experience that they give their clients every day in order to retain clients and attract new ones.
The clients are having a growing concern about what food they eat and how it has been prepared. The concept of an open kitchen has been very popular with clients because initially, restaurant kitchens were an enclosed space at the back where only restaurant employees were aware of what was going on.
This article reviews the pros and cons of a restaurant with an open kitchen in details. It also explains why clients might choose to visit a restaurant with an open kitchen instead of a closed kitchen model. What's more, it helps you understand that the open kitchen concept could also have limitations.
Transparency has been a growing trend in many industries throughout America. An open kitchen concept for restaurants allows the customers to see how clean the kitchen is, admire the expertise of the chef, and review how well their meals are being prepared.
These types of the kitchen also allow the clients to see the quality of ingredients and the culinary used. All this is essential in building the confidence of the client. A confident client becomes a repeat client. Moreover, such a client is also more likely to recommend the restaurant to friends and family.
An open kitchen restaurant could also act as an entertainment spot for cooking enthusiasts. People often come to the restaurant with their partners not only have to a meal in such a restaurant but also to be entertained by the show that the chef puts on.
Due to the growth of cooking shows on television, restaurants have also adopted the culture of offering live entertainment to clients by showing what goes inside the kitchen. Restaurant kitchens have become a place for the chef, both popular and upcoming, to showcase his or her art. Using this model has enabled many restaurants to diversify from a food-based service to a business model that generates revenue by offering a great experience to the clients.
Clients who visit restaurants with open kitchens are able to enjoy the process and stimulate their senses of smell, sounds, and sight. The smell sensory is stimulated as the food is being cooked and the various spices added because they emit various smells that are appealing to the nose. Witnessing the cooking process also enhances the clients' appetite.
The sound of frying food and the sight of the chef making and cooking the food is an important experience that most clients and cooking enthusiast enjoy. The stimulation of all these senses by the viewing experience has been credited with increasing the client's appetite as they patiently wait for the delicacies to be served.
An open restaurant kitchen helps the proprietor to save money that he or she could have used to partition and build an enclosed kitchen away from the dining area. Open kitchens are also relatively smaller because the clients need to be close enough to the kitchen to enjoy the experience.
This hence eliminates the need to hire a huge space that is usually expensive in an urban environment. There are also reduced lighting and heating costs associated with running a closed kitchen separate away from the dining area.
The following are some of the cons of an open concept kitchen.
In an environment of an open kitchen, the kitchen staff has to be extra careful to avoid mistakes because they have an audience that is keenly watching and following up on everything that is going on. As such, chefs, cooks, and the assistants have to understand that they have to be on top of their game all the time. This is because their audience will judge their skills, manners, and standard procedures.
If a mistake happens, it could damage the reputation of the restaurants because the clients will witness it and they may decide to spread the news.
When food is being prepared, it is not as glamorous as it may appear on the TV or in the photos that the clients see in magazines. In a TV show, spices and ingredients are often pre-prepared before the show. As such, the clients do not have to witness as onions are being peeled and vegetable cut.
In restaurant kitchens that are open, clients may have to see the preparation of these ingredients; it might not be glamorous to watch the ingredients being prepared for cooking.
Due to various genetic or medical conditions and personal preferences, some clients may not always enjoy the stimulation of live cooking. Some clients may be affected by the strong flavors given off while cooking food and this may affect their overall appetite.
Some clients may also not enjoy the occasional moments where foods and cookware smoke off leaving out a smoky environment in the kitchen.
Different restaurants cater to different types of clients. It is important, therefore, for each restaurant owners to understand their clients before making the decision to go for a closed or open kitchen.
