{"id":97199,"date":"2018-11-07T20:03:57","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T03:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-eateries-consider-automation\/"},"modified":"2018-11-07T20:03:57","modified_gmt":"2018-11-08T03:03:57","slug":"durango-eateries-consider-automation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-eateries-consider-automation\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango eateries consider automation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"
David Holub\/Special to the Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Automation, as it has in most places, has continued to evolve in the food industry since the first vending machine appeared in the late 1890s.<\/p>\n

Some versions, such as touch-screen ordering a Chedda\u2019 Burger at Grassburger to expedite the ordering process, feel welcome. But can a robot make lasagna with love as Grandma did, or should digital digits stay away from kneading dough and stirring Manhattans?<\/p>\n

MakerLab<\/a> co-founder and director Ryan Finnigan specializes in cocktail-making automation. He teaches classes on the subject at the Powerhouse Science Center and has won awards for his buzz-inducing inventions. MakerLab co-founder Alexi Carey\u2019s company, E7 Systems, sub-contracted Finnigan to design and install a 55-tap, self-pour beer system<\/a> for The Wall restaurant in California last year. The technology allows people to pour their own brews while paying for them from a preloaded card.<\/p>\n

\"Alexii
Alexii Carey, left, and Ryan Finnigan, center, designed and installed a self-pour beer system for a California restaurant last year.<\/span>Courtesy of E7 Systems, file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Those savings speak to one of the central questions of automation: What will happen when human jobs are replaced by robots?<\/p>\n

Mutu\u2019s Italian Kitchen<\/a> owner Rustin Newton has been in the restaurant business for 37 years (since he was 17 years old). Newton recognizes the unstoppable momentum of tech, but also considers the irreplaceable connections he made with colleagues and employees over the years. He says many servers, chefs and bartenders who go into the food and beverage industry do so as a lifelong career choice and don\u2019t necessarily have a Plan B.<\/p>\n

But robot chefs are already prepping workstations, slicing, frying and flipping, though most stick to simple tasks. California fast-food joint CaliBurger was the first to purchase Flippy, a robotic arm with a spatula hand that would make SpongeBob SquarePants drool. Filppy helps workers on the cooking line and saves them from hot grease and tired wrists. Spyce in Boston is a fully automated kitchen that serves wok-prepared meals after ingredients are measured, combined and dispensed from a refrigerator. The first fully-automated-chef-and-server restaurant, Haidilao, which serves hot-pot prepared meals, opened in Bejing in October.<\/p>\n

These mechanical chefs, though, are missing an important skill that any master chef keeps in their silverware drawer: improvisation. Newton said it is common to alter recipes in order to utilize fresh ingredients that change with the season. Adaptation is one of the subtleties of cooking in an eatery where there are unexpected factors, such as parties with picky children, various allergies and no reservations, who will inevitably request to speak to a manager. Can a robot handle that?<\/p>\n

Finnigan thinks so. He said the data is out there and the tech is sufficient, so a recipe-improvising artificial intelligence may only be five years off. He also said, however, that pop culture\u2019s estimate of everyone owning a cooking and cleaning Jetsons-style Rosie is farther off.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose complex systems are going to be some of the last things that are automated; whereas data-crunching \u2026 those jobs\u2019 (futures) are dismal,\u201d Finnigan said. (Finnigan said by some higher-end estimations, robotics will replace human careers up to 38 percent over the next 15 years.)<\/p>\n

Another speed bump on the automation fast-track is the price of the gadgets. Moley is one of the first versions of a home chef and costs around $10,000 to $15,000. Bringing new technology into the restaurant business requires deep pockets even if automation might save on labor costs down the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many dollars would a restaurant (owner) have to invest on the front side \u2013 in an already risky business to be in?\u201d Newton asked.<\/p>\n

There is the possibility that automation could bog us down in other areas. Most would agree that the advent of the cellphone has resulted in more work. This is why Newton at Mutu\u2019s hasn\u2019t incorporated online ordering, which is becoming the norm in many restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay in the middle of a Friday or Saturday night you are as busy as you can be, then it would be like suddenly picking up 12 more tables,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There is also the question of automation eliminating the soul of creative expression.<\/p>\n

At Denver\u2019s Birdcall, diners order a fried chicken sandwich via touchscreen, and then their meal appears in a honeycomb-shaped slot in a wall that separates the guests from employees. The whole experience is like something out of \u201cBlack Mirror\u201d \u2013 void of personal interaction, despite the fact real unseen people work mysteriously behind the scenes like hatchery-made Epsilons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still believe that the heart of something comes through,\u201d Newton said. \u201cIs your mom\u2019s lasagna fantastic just because it\u2019s your mom\u2019s lasagna, or just because she made it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Finnigan has a different perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand how some people would have a moral qualm, but I am so engaged with technology as it is, you get adjusted to it in phases,\u201d Finnigan said. \u201cI embrace it \u2026 It\u2019s more important for us to have a conversation about how things will change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar to how Finnigan\u2019s self-pour system will supplement \u2013 not replace \u2013 the bar experience, Newton thinks the same will happen to restaurants. He thinks there may be more and more fully-automated kitchens in crowded, busy spaces where people are on the go, such as airports or train stations, but they won\u2019t replace the social aspect of eating together. Newton points to how self-pouring coffee was all the rage in the \u201980s, but now you would have to pry the cozy caf\u00e9 environment out of our warm-blooded hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what I call the \u2018Cheers\u2019 factor,\u201d Newton said.<\/p>\n

The restaurant industry may live on as we know it today in the second machine age, at least until a Ted Danson machine can pour us a cold one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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