The Convenient Gourmet

4.7
What Chefs Wish They Had
The following quotes were taken from an article written by a
journalist named Shelby Fleig, from the popular design blog
FastCoDesign.
It featured a list of very prominent chefs and their pain
points about cooking and what they wished they had in their
kitchen, and was written as a direct call-to-action to the designers
reading it. It was a fresh article which I thought was
pertinent to my trendspotting endeavours, and provided me
with insights to what chefs would want.
Sarah DiGregorio
Senior food editor at Food & Wine
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"I am irrationally stressed out by drying vegetables completely
after washing. Yes, I know of the existence of the
salad spinner, but I always end up patting each leaf dry
anyway, because the spinner never seems to get them completely
dry, which is necessary if you're going to toss them
with a dressing. I make a fantastic kale and smoked almond
salad, and it takes me a truly embarrassing amount of time
to wash and dry the kale. Same issue with mushrooms: I'm
always worried they're going to soak up water and not brown
properly, so I compulsively rub each and every one down
with a paper towel after washing. If there were a gadget that
would thoroughly wash and completely dry vegetables for
me, I would be the first in line to buy it." (Fleig, 2014)
Florence Fabricant
Award-winning New York Times food critic
"I can suggest two gadgets. Some kind of blow-dryer for
washed salad greens and herbs that will do a faster and
better job than a salad spinner or towels. I imagine it would
come with a mesh bag to hold the greens. You might be
able to use it to dry potato slices before frying. And a little
blanket, a wrap or special box that will get a stick of butter
straight from the refrigerator to softened in a minute. Results
with a microwave oven are very uneven." (Fleig, 2014)
Norman Van Aken
Award-winning food writer and book author Founder of
Norman’s at the Ritz-Carlton, Grande Lakes Orlando
Insights
Professional chefs and food experts have very specific needs in the
kitchen
They pay high attention to the smallest details
Design Opportunity
How might we design a handheld device that dries vegetables and
products efficiently?
How might we design a device that can add a finishing touch to
dishes that move out of the kitchen?
"Invent a hairdryer-like device, but one that could be made
much hotter to be able to do such things as ‘melt’ truffles,
foie gras, etc. as a dish is going out. This would be more of
a 'surrounding warmth' than what a blow torch would do. It
would have a halo to encircle the plate. It would be portable
so it could be used for banquets and adding its magic just
before the dish was taken to the guest." (Fleig, 2014)
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