Close Ad

The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Chef

Video: Richard Blais Wants to Make a Drone Delivery Service for Donuts

During his fireside chat at the 2018 Smart Kitchen Summit, Richard Blais compared the state of food technology to something it has probably never been compared to ever before. “There’s this Biggie/Tupac thing happening in food always,” he said, using the most famous rap rivalry of all time to reflect the current tension in restaurants: old world vs. new, low-tech vs. high-tech, woodfire grills vs. robots.

Despite his culinary pedigree, Blais embraces technology in the kitchen — at least, when it can make things easier for him. At the same time, he doesn’t want robots to take over everything in the kitchen. Repetitive tasks (hello, french fry preparation), sure. Donuts delivered via drone? You betcha. (That’s a real business idea, by the way — and he’s going to call it the Dronut.)

Inviting technology into the kitchen is a delicate balancing act, though. In the end, Blais is open to most things — as long as food tastes awesome. “That’s the ultimate judge,” he said. “Is that thing delicious?”

Watch the full video of Richard Blais’ fireside chat (and find out his dairy-based DJ name) below.

Richard Blais at Smart Kitchen Summit

Look out for more videos of the panels, solo talks, and fireside chats from SKS 2018! We’ll be bringing them to you hot and fresh out the (smart) kitchen over the next few weeks.

The Stone Notebook for Chefs is Water Proof and Grease Proof

For my money, paper is still the best way to take notes. But if you’re a chef concocting your next big creation, the kitchen is a dangerous place for paper. Water splashes or grease smudges can turn notes into illegible junk.

Bookblock is set to change all that with the new Stone notebook, the pages of which, the company says, are resistant to both water and grease. So chefs can jot down notes about recipes or whatever without fearing that an errant spill or splash will ruin all their work.

What wizardry can achieve all of this? Surprisingly, it’s a very low-tech solution; one that’s also in the name of the product. The pages of the Stone are made from — stone. According to the press release:

“Offcuts taken from limestone quarries, that would otherwise go to waste, are churned up to a fine powder and turned into paper. The result is a material that’s completely immune to water and grease. Butter, wine, and oil can simply be wiped off with no stain left on the pages or smudging of the ink, making it a paper born to survive the kitchen.”

The Stone also features handy conversion charts, perforated pages, a pen holder, and magnets to keep the book in place on steel kitchen surfaces.

While we haven’t gotten our hands on one, it supposedly works just like a regular notebook. Chefs can still use their Sharpie or other favorite pens with abandon and without fear of losing any information.

Bookblock says that Gordon Ramsay, Marcus Wareing and Pierre Koffmann are already using the notebook. Everyday kitchen cooks will be able to purchase the Stone through Kickstarter starting on March 26th. where early bird backers can pick one up for £14 ($19.75) for the first two days, and after that it will be £18 ($25.39). If the Stone lives up to its promise, they’ll get my money.