More than ever before creating a memorable experience for your guests is highly important. High quality service and delicious food are no longer enough, creating a unique memory that truly stands out among the competition is what keeps guests choosing your venue over others’. Give your guests something unique to remember you for. A live show using cooking stations is the perfect opportunity. Let your chefs shine creating spectacles for everyone in the family, especially for the youngsters, they will want to keep coming back for seconds! 

spectacle with dry ice

                                                      Hilton Riverside 

Benefits of Live Cooking Stations 

Live cooking stations bring back of the house cooking and transforms it into a front of the house spectacle for guests. Chefs and cooks are able to do live demonstrations that boost customer interaction and at the same time transform the art of serving food into a live culinary experience. Additionally, it is a great opportunity to use fresh and locally grown ingredients and let the guests know exactly what they are being served. This gives guests the options on sauces, toppings, and makes the food cooking a lot more dynamic and involved. You can incorporate live cooking stations using the canopy and arch which bring the genuity and freshness of street food into the indoors. This setup is very eye catching and it’s a great way to distribute people around your venue. Also incorporate smaller stations with drinks or cutlery using the rolling buffet cart. 

 

make your own deli sandwich

                       Boca West Country Club

Help Drive Interaction with your Hotel Guests

Since mobile banquets are versatile they can be placed strategically in different parts of the venue and  it can help drive interaction with staff or among guests. A mobile station focuses more on the presentation of the station itself compared to its technicalities. This is not a direct replacement for the back of the house kitchen, on the contrary it’s simply a way to put on a show. These stations can also be placed within your buffet areas in various configurations to create specific focal points. It can also be looked at from a different angle, since guests can be pleasantly surprised with different stations spread around different locations throughout the hotel. For this kind of display you can use rolling buffet cart which is easy to relocate if needed. This idea comes from bringing the dining room to the people instead of the people to the dining room. Pop up stations, serving light snacks, hot drinks,cocktails, etc. using the rolling service carts is a great way to spike up interaction as well.

 

live cooking with sitting area

                                                                                    Hilton Hotel

Equipment Needed when Setting up Live Cooking Stations

For a successful cooking station all you need is a chef that can put on a show and on the more practical side of course a good cooking station. But to create the right atmosphere a lot more than that is needed . For the live cooking to be a success there needs to be a good cooking induction, a cooling plate, storage space for the Kitchener utilities, dirty dishes and trash, shelves for ingredients and final masterpieces and ultimately a comfortable working space for the chef. The key is to remain highly functional with your staff while creating a spectacle atmosphere for your guests. 

In addition, the add-ons like the arch for hanging pots and pans, meats and sausages and display shelves that transform the station into a mobile kitchen. Also, a variety of hanging blackboards adds personality and expression that beyond its technicality transmits a message. 

live cooking in hotel

                                                                                   Hunters Run Florida

The future of Demonstrative Food Preparation

When it comes to preparation and presentation, the human touch is important. Demonstrative food preparations in the future will need to captivate a highly sensory experience for guests. Stations need to capitalize on materials, textures and colors that resemble traditional cooking that symbolize spending time with others and create unique atmospheres. So in your different venues strive to add on a personal touch in all of your station and rolling buffet cart setups. 

 

Mogogo live cooking

 

So next time you set up your buffet incorporate elements that make it a lot more interactive. Live cooking stations will give your food presentation that human touch that all guests are looking for when paying a visit to your hotel. Make your staff and chefs shine with fun and creative food presentations and even your bartenders can play a part of it by designing special drinks and setting them up in the rolling buffet cart.