A group of robotic engineer graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has opened a restaurant where seven robots serve as the chefs, The Washington Post reports.
Spyce, which opened earlier this month, is the brainchild of a group of fraternity brothers who built the prototype for the endeavor in the basement of their frat house. Restaurant patrons can watch the robots cook their meal.
“Once you place your order, we have an ingredient delivery system that collects them from the fridge,” says 26-year-old co-founder Michael Farid. “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.”
Their motto is: “Culinary excellence elevated by technology.” It’s an idea that others in the restaurant industry are adopting too, according to a report last year by McKinsey Global Institute According to the institute’s analysis, 73% of work in food service could potentially be automated and some already is with the rising popularity of self-pay and digital ordering stations.
The founders of Spyce insist the move to automated cooking doesn’t cut jobs, though it does have fewer employees than a typical restaurant. The restaurant employs people to prep the food the night before, a guide to greet and assist customers ordering and a garde manager, who adds the final touches to dishes, such as cilantro or crumbled goat cheese.
