Photo by Lara Kastner
The kitchen table--not the one you eat at in your dining room but the showpiece table right in the kitchen, which became popular in high-end restaurants during the 1990s--was the result of guests wanting to see, smell, feel, and hear the action of the professional kitchen. People wanted to embellish dinner with elements of adrenaline, artistry...and in some cases drama, when the infamous egotistical tyrant chef belittled his minions in an act of showmanship.
But most, I hope, wanted to pull back the curtain on the "magic show" and gain an understanding of the how, why, and what of occupational cooking. Maybe they wanted to feel connected to the chef and the cooks who were preparing them a wonderful meal, to congratulate them and show their gratitude.
A large percentage of chefs are shy and lack the desire or congeniality to deal with the public. At least that is the stereotype despite the recent rise of the "TV chef". More often than not that is how they ended up in the kitchen, their personalities excluding them from personal comfort in the dining room.
I wondered how we could show everyone what we were up to in the kitchen--show off a bit.
All cooks like to be acknowledged, and deep down they want to have a conversation about their craft. They feel what they do is special, and take a great sense of pride in their skill. To find a captive audience--often the same people who would have interest in eating in the kitchen--is very rewarding. We feed off the guests' excitement.
I had mixed feelings about the kitchen table we had at Trio, the kitchen I ran before I opened Alinea. Aside from the thoughts above, I always wondered why it was limited to so few people a night. I wondered how we could show everyone what we were up to in the kitchen--show off a bit.
Some restaurants have glass walls, and others project live video feeds from the kitchen into the dining spaces. To me those solutions seem to miss the point, robbing guests of nearly all the senses they are able to use to evaluate the performance.
Fast-forward three years to the development phase of Alinea. In the initial stages of design, Nick Kokonas, my business partner and co-owner of Alinea, asked if I wanted a kitchen table, which he had enjoyed as a diner a few times at Trio. I said absolutely not. He wondered aloud how we could bring that behind-the-scenes, unique experience to the guests at Alinea. We batted a few ideas back and forth, and half-jokingly he said, "What about a giant plate that would be set on top of a table? Chefs would come out to the dining room and plate the courses right in front of the guests." The idea was intriguing: simultaneously a modern form of traditional tableside service and moving the kitchen table experience into the actual dining room.
The idea was shelved for five years. I would often come back to it, and Martin Kastner (the designer/owner of Crucial Detail Design Studio) and I talked about the concept from time to time, but we were always too focused on other aspects of Alinea to devote the required time and energy to make it happen.
Then, about four months ago, I promised myself I would bring this concept to life.
To be continued...
SHOP THE ATLANTIC FOOD MARKETPLACE
Subscribe to Atlantic Food
I'm not sure that doing plating in the dining room captures what (some) diners enjoy about a kitchen table or an open kitchen. With an open kitchen, you can observe the techniques, you can see (and smell, and hear) the transformation of ingredients, you can see dishes other diners have ordered and get inspired for your next visit (perhaps not as much of an issue with Alinea's set menu). Speaking for myself, what interests me is not simply the final process of assembly (which is often more akin to decoration than cooking) but the larger process of moving from raw material to finished dish. Plus, I just enjoy watching the ballet of a well-coordinated kitchen.
Of course, you will never fully have a sense of this progression unless you get into the kitchen several hours before service while cooks are assembling their mise en place, putting stocks on to simmer, meats to braise, etc. But you certainly get more of a sense of it if you can observe the kitchen at work, rather than if the "kitchen comes to you".
One of my favorite recent meals was at a small 17-seat Japanese restaurant with a 1-man staff and a completely open kitchen where pretty much everything is made right before you. It was an incredibly intimate, and satisfying, dining experience.
The idea you describe seems more akin to, as you mentioned, the traditional tableside service - which also has something to recommend it. (Just last week I ate a new Miami outpost of an old Paris brasserie and was reminded of this). It's fun, it's festive - but to me, it's something very different from an open kitchen.
It may be a bit over-reductive, but I think tableside service is for diners who want to be entertained; an open kitchen is for diners who want to learn.
We have dined twice at Charlie Trotter's kitchen table and found it very interesting and rewarding. You see how things are done and sometimes get to taste things you did not order.
The first time we did this Charlie Trotter was in the kitchen, the second time he was not on the premises. I have to tell you we enjoyed it more without him than with him. I think the staff was less tense and the "expediter" explained more to us and they gave us a full tour of the place, including their wine cellar.
If you are interested in cooking I do think that it lets you see how it is done professionally. and to pick up tips and hints.
I worked in what used to be Maestro. We had an open kitchen that left the work exposed in a way. But somehow, during service, the music and noise from the dining room made it seem a very quiet kitchen. I love this idea but it's somehow limited in case people want to see what goes on in the "pots and pans".
to the first comment; shameless self promotion shoud be done at the expense of someone other than Grant. Im sure your dinner and pictures are nice, but that is completely off subject. the only thing the 2 have in common is food.
to the second; shame on you for talking about that restaurant in this essay. its been well documented that they are two completely different entities, the restaruant AND the chef.
listen, chef, is kind enough to put his thoughts to paper for the world to see, be respectful of that. read and understand whats being said, dont just look at the words. in the course of a 5+ hour meal, there needs to be excitement and interaction. wether or not food will just "simply be plated" at the table is irrelevent. the purpose is to add another interactive element to the entire performance. kitchen table or not, watching food of this caliber being plated is amazing.
I think this is a great idea, contrary to what Frodnesor said, to have a chef plate a dish is far from just a traditional table service. As skilled as some captain might be, they are not chefs, and in seeing something being plated at a place like Alinea, where so much thought has been put into how a dish (or whatever else the food is being served on) is constructed, I bet someone who is interested in food will get a lot of information/entertainment/enjoyment from it.
(and more often than not, at least in this country, table service are clumsily executed, by people who might be good servers, but bad cooks, and there is nothing great about that)
Dave - If you'd bothered to read my comments (which of course you're under no compulsion to do) you'd see that the commonality is not "food" but rather two entirely different versions of an "open kitchen" or "interactive" dining experience. I'm incredibly grateful to Chef Achatz for sharing his comments and read them closely. I had a great meal at Alinea a couple years ago and am happy to follow, at least vicariously, how the restaurant continues to develop. I'm not sure who appointed you hall monitor to determine what further discussion on the subjects raised here is appropriate.