The Boston Restaurant Where Robots Have Replaced the Chefs (washingtonpost.com)

Started by a group of 20-something robotics engineers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology who partnered with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud, Spyce in downtown Boston is founded on the idea that a fulfilling meal can be more science than spontaneity [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source]. From a report: The restaurant's founders have replaced human chefs with seven automated cooking pots that simultaneously whip up meals in three minutes or less. A brief description of meal preparation -- courtesy of 26-year-old co-founder, Michael Farid -- can sound more like laboratory instructions than conventional cooking. "Once you place your order, we have an ingredient delivery system that collects them from the fridge," Farid said.

"The ingredients are portioned into the correct sizes and then delivered to a robotic wok, where they are tumbled at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The ingredients are cooked and seared. And once the process is complete, the woks tilt downward and put food into a bowl. And then they're ready to be garnished and served." Spyce bills itself as "the world's first restaurant featuring a robotic kitchen that cooks complex meals," a distinction that appears to reference burger-flipping robots like "Flippy," who plied his trade in a California fast food kitchen before being temporary suspended -- because he wasn't working fast enough.

Comments

Complex?

[jbmartin6]

I'm not sure I agree that stir-fry qualifies as a "complex meal."

Re:Complex?

[iggymanz]

I cook.

It's not complex cooking at all. Quite frankly I'd like to see them make a robot that could cook steak, potatoes, side veggies meal....because I'm quite certain they couldn't. Even a quality hamburger would confound a robot.

Re:Complex?

[HornWumpus]

Obvious troll is obvious. Try harder.

Steak is easy, because you just have to shine a flashlight on both sides and it's cooked.

Re:Complex?

[Ken_g6]

It's not that complex, but I bet you could automate most of a Noodles & Co. this way.

Re:Complex?

[sycodon]

If it can be cooked by a robot, it didn't need a Chef in the first place.

X Cuisine?

[OffTheLip]

Hopefully they are networking.

This already has a name.

[Type44Q]

This already has a name; it's called a factory. In other news, when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

I guess what will happen next!

[LordHighExecutioner]

Google Assistant will book a table, and call a self-driving cab to my home. Then my Roomba will board the taxi, go to the robotic restaurant, and orders a meal (probably mabe up of WD40, and other stuff that robots like to eat). And finally everything is billed on *my* credit card, sigh.... -

Re:Health insurance and vacation time

[Anonymous Coward]

Worked on machine controls for over thirty years, and the machines get great health insurance. As soon as they get sick, a human is dispatched to help and we have parts on site to fix the most common health problems. As for vacation time, they get all of the time they need off for maintenance.

As for myself, I haven't had a real vacation in over twenty-five years and haven't been to a doctor since I was 13, which was a little over forty years ago.

Sounds like canned or frozen food to me

[Rick Schumann]

If I want some slop out of a bag or box in the freezer or from a can I'll go to the grocery store and buy that for I'm sure a fraction of what these jokers are charging for a 'restaurant' 'meal'. Do not want, would not pay for it. If I'm eating out I want a human chef making me something special and nice not some shitty 'robot' making the equivalent of frozen food made in a factory somewhere. And of course what's already been in the works is firing all the waitstaff so all you do is deal with machines the entire time you're at their 'restaurant'. Screw that. There's nothing special about it, there's nothing value-added about it, why would I even bother going out to eat if that's all I'm going to get? May as well stay home and make my own food for the cost of ingredients and watch TV just like always.

Re:Sounds like canned or frozen food to me

[eaglesrule]

When you eat at McDonalds are you really expecting a dining experience, or do you just want to get your food in the least amount of time possible?

Because that's all this is; glorified fast food that currently enjoys a novelty factor and niche marketing. Once that sparkly wow factor novelty wears off, it'll have all the same charm and appeal of an automat. It'll join ranks with the places that already prepare food such as frozen meat patties that are thawed and cooked by traveling down a heated conveyor belt.

May as well stay home and make my own food for the cost of ingredients and watch TV just like always.

I'm sure the cats enjoy having the company. ;)

Re:Sounds like canned or frozen food to me

[Rick Schumann]

I don't eat at McDonalds because that's not 'food', it's 'food substitute', it's overpriced, undernourishing, and more or less complete garbage. I don't eat other so-called 'fast food' for similar reasons. There are few exceptions to this for me, those exceptions are few and far between, and when I do have to resort to it, the list of where is acceptable is painfully short, and I'm reminded at the pick-up window that what I'm paying for one pseudo-meal would pay for feeding me for several days otherwise, reinforcing all the above.

I don't have cats, smartass. I don't have time to take care of one, it wouldn't be fair to the cat.

Cooks Not Chefs

[Thelasko]

In large restaurants, chefs don't actually do the cooking. They plan the meals, order the food, and manage the staff. Chefs are actually managers.

This restaurant likely still has a chef. Instead of managing a kitchen full of cooks, he or she manages robots.

Just wait until I order...

[Jaegs]

broccoli'); drop table vegetables;--

Most restaurant meals aren't complex

[rsilvergun]

a lot of thought and effort goes into making them as quick and dirty as possible so you can "plate" them quickly and make the most profit. That's why most restaurants are built around meat. It freezes well and any idiot can cook it without ruining it.