In the Alchemist's Kitchen - Vol 3: Welcome to the Chef's (Lab) Table

 

 turned into this......

Not too long ago, my own kitchen was under construction.  When I moved the essential elements to my sun room, realized how fundamentally similar my kitchen was to my lab. Here's a shot of my finalized kitchen reno but perhaps more relevant to the blog, see the following images of the construction of the Culinary Teaching Lab at Amherst College - where the true magic is brewed.

Meanwhile, I designed and assembled a teaching lab with four stations, each of which could be used by four team members.  With 8 foot butcher block Trinity workbenches, and a 6 foot table at right angles, the students could assemble their dishes and roles of executive chef, sous chef, clean-up and recorder assigned, we would be ready to go.  Roles rotate week to week so no one gets too full of themselves.

The cabinets are stocked with stainless cookware, induction burners, blenders, graters, shredders, bowls, and almost any tool you can imagine the novice chef would need.

When the four stations are assembled in the teaching lab, you can see there is plenty of space left over for people to move around without crowding each other.  Two 8 foot tables are typically set in the front of the lab (behind the photographer here) with food supplies for each lab.  Judging stations are set up in the far corner of the room, though are not shown in this image.

 

Early moments in the lab with students just starting to arrive.