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New Age Kitchens for New Age Guests
March 27, 2024
Anurag Yadav
A younger clientele is driving subtle new elements in today’s hotel kitchens.
Much water has flown down the kitchen sink since the start of this century. Concepts of eating out have evolved, and along with it, a fast flowering of demographic age of patrons is pushing for a different approach in kitchen design, equipment and look.
Open kitchen concepts and front-of-house prep are commonplace today. The young hospitality guests need something extra, even over the food, to commit their loyalty to any outlet.
From the way food is prepared to the look of the building, there are a lot of ways the food service industry is embracing change. Photo Courtesy: Radisson Blue Atria, Bengaluru
No wonder a lot of visually appealing equipment are showing up in restaurant kitchens, especially the ones that are open to the guests. This includes ovens and fryers in bright colours, as well as sleek touchscreens replacing knobs and buttons. In restaurant kitchens, space is always at a premium, therefore, more and more hotels and restaurants are keen to adopt equipment that can perform multiple functions. Combi and rapid cook ovens, which combine multiple cooking methods to prepare different types of food, are catching the eye of hoteliers for the sole reason that guests dining at their premises are tickled seeing new-fangled gizmos at work.
Designers have been nudged fairly well by hospitality owners and managers to create newer looks for the interiors. The new age generation that eats out expects to see a lot of natural, aged, and rustic styles of decor. With some surprise (and consternations), the hospitality industry is realising that newer surfaces like wood floors, earthy tones, metal beverage ware with an aged patina, and gold flatware seem to heighten the experience at their premises, and the kitchen extends well into the dining experience.
Open kitchen concepts and front-of-house prep are commonplace today. Photo Courtesy: Radisson Blue Atria, Bengaluru
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From the way food is prepared to the look of the building, there are a lot of ways the food service industry is embracing change. Modern diners want to know who is preparing and where they are preparing what they are eating.
This was a trend that began almost three decades ago; hence, it is nothing new. However, since today more restaurants are breaking down the walls between their front- and back-of-house areas to show off their kitchens, kitchen design has come centre stage in even those establishments which prided themselves on their food fare to carry the day.
Instead of the traditional dining experience, customers in these evolving times are looking for a meal that doubles as an experience. Customers are also willing to pay a premium for these types of experiences. Pop-up restaurants are establishments that open for a limited time only, and they're a way for chefs and restaurateurs to gauge interest before opening a new restaurant. In all these promos and tentative exercises, the most important thing is the kitchen.
Today more restaurants are breaking down the walls between their front- and back-of-house areas to show off their kitchens. Photo Courtesy: Delhi Pavillion Kitchen, Sheraton, New Delhi
Whether it is a makeshift stall, a sit-down eater, or a plush gourmet restaurant – standalone, or part of a chain, they all are leaning on designers to add that unique touch to distinguish them from others.
Although pop-up restaurants aren’t too popular or common in India today, the trend has grown internationally and will continue to grow this year as well. India won’t remain untouched for long.
Another fast-growing demographic for restaurants is those who are retiring and have more disposable income to use on dining. Unlike millennials who want new experiences when eating out, this segment wants nostalgia. As a result, many major chains are bringing back old favourites to capitalise on that feeling – both by way of cuisine and interior design.
Design extends to appliances and equipment; not merely interiors
The mid-market is fast catching up with the optics of design, but to prevent consumers from raising their eyebrows on any perceived utilitarian hiccup, a clear effort is seen to define function in more concrete terms.
It is this space that is being readily filled up by smart, technically efficient, and slick-looking appliances. The frozen, if not staid design of the modular kitchen, despite its attendant glam quotient, is now subjected to a deluge of appliances that aim to ‘gentrify’ the kitchen space.
In Indian kitchens that are high on the frying scene, smart fryers are the new appliances that bring about a more qualitative change than work surfaces that require a bit too careful handling. Technology that blends functionality and is of more practical use than mere aesthetics is set to win the day in the coming years.
While this goes well for domestic kitchens, hospitality kitchens are witnessing a keener edge to develop styles and appearances that appeal as much to clients visiting restaurants as the chefs using that space.
Kitchen design will move more in sync with the appliances needed in local contexts than a generalised international look and feel. The new-age consumer and her independent choices are driving the market towards that end. That is another field where change will be driven by demand.
But that is another story.
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