Other kitchen types
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Restaurant and canteen kitchens found in hotels, hospitals, army
barracks and similar establishments are generally (in developed
countries) subject to public health laws. They are inspected
periodically by public-health officials, and forced to close if they
don't meet hygienic requirements mandated by law.
Canteen kitchens (and castle kitchens) were often the places where
new technology was used first. For instance, Benjamin Thompson's
"energy saving stove", an early 19th century fully-closed iron stove
using one fire to heat several pots, was designed for large
kitchens; another thirty years passed before they were adapted for
domestic use.
Today's western restaurant kitchens typically have tiled walls and
floors and use stainless steel for other surfaces (workbench, but
also door and drawer fronts) because these materials are durable and
easy to clean. Professional kitchens are often equipped with gas
stoves, as these allow cooks to regulate the heat quicker and more
finely than electrical stoves. Some special appliances are typical
for professional kitchens, such as large installed deep fryers,
steamers, or a Bain Marie. (As of 2004, steamers—not to be confused
with a pressure cooker—are beginning to find their way into domestic
households, sometimes as a combined appliance of oven and steamer.) |
The fast food and convenience food trends have also changed the way
restaurant kitchens operate. There is a trend for restaurants to
only "finish" delivered convenience food or even just re-heat
completely prepared meals, maybe at the utmost grilling a hamburger
or a steak.
The kitchens in railway dining cars present special challenges:
space is constrained, and nevertheless the personnel must be able to
serve a great number of meals quickly. Especially in the early
history of the railway this required flawless organization of
processes; in modern times, the microwave oven and prepared meals
have made this task a lot easier. Galleys are kitchens aboard ships
(although the term galley is also often used to refer to a railroad
dining car's kitchen). On yachts, galleys are often cramped, with
one or two gas burners fuelled by a gas bottle, but kitchens on
cruise ships or large warships are comparable in every respect with
restaurants or canteen kitchens. On passenger airplanes, the kitchen
is reduced to a mere pantry, the only function reminiscent of a
kitchen is the heating of in-flight meals (where they haven't been
"optimized" away altogether) delivered by a catering company. An
extreme form of the kitchen occurs in space, e.g. aboard a Space
Shuttle (where it is also called the "galley") or the International
Space Station. The astronauts' food is generally completely
prepared, dehydrated, and sealed in plastic pouches, and the kitchen
is reduced to a rehydration and heating module.
Outdoor areas in which food is prepared are generally not considered
to be kitchens, although an outdoor area set up for regular food
preparation, for instance when camping, might be called an "outdoor
kitchen". Military camps and similar temporary settlements of nomads
may have dedicated kitchen tents.
In Schools where Home Economics (HE) or Food technology (previously
known as Domestic science) is taught, there will be a series of
kitchens with multiple equipment (similar in some respects to
laboratories) solely for the purpose of teaching. These will consist
of between 6 and 12 workstations, each with their own oven, sink and
kitchen utensils.
Restaurants range from unpretentious lunching or dining places
catering to people working nearby, with simple food served in simple
settings at low prices, to expensive establishments serving refined
food and wines in a formal setting. In the former case, customers
usually wear casual clothing. In the latter case, depending on
culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual,
semi-formal, or even in rare cases formal wear.
Standardly customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a
waiter, who brings the food when it is ready, and the customers pay
the bill before leaving. In finer restaurants there will be a host
or hostess or even a maître d'hôtel to welcome customers and to seat
them. Other staff waiting on customers include busboys and
sommeliers.
Depending on local custom, a tip of varying proportions of the bill
(often 10-20%) may be added, which (usually) goes to the staff
rather than the restaurant. This gratuity might be added directly to
the bill or it may be given voluntarily.
Restaurants often specialise in certain types of food or present a
certain unifying, and often entertaining, theme. For example, there
are seafood restaurants, vegetarian restaurants or ethnic
restaurants. Generally speaking, restaurants selling "local" food
are simply called restaurants, while restaurants selling food of
foreign origin are called accordingly, for example, a Chinese
restaurant and a French restaurant.
Depending on local customs and the establishment, restaurants may or
may not serve alcoholic beverages. Restaurants are often prohibited
from selling alcohol without a meal by alcohol sale laws; such sale
is considered to be activity for bars, which are meant to have more
severe restrictions. Some restaurants are licensed to serve alcohol
("fully licensed"), and/or permit customers to "bring your own"
alcohol (BYO / BYOB). |
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