The tone is set. When you arrive at this Chinese hot pot restaurant in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, a large window in the hallway lets you see what’s going on in the kitchen. No chef, but robots working on the preparation of dishes. “There are nine robot arms in two rows. They prepare the plates by separating vegetables and meat well and automatically, described Yu Zhong, one of the restaurant managers.
“The dishes are therefore almost untouched by people, which enhances food safety.” A significant asset in a country like China which defends a “zero Covid-19” strategy.
A little further on is the preparation of soups for the fondues and there too robots are at work. “Do you see those injection heads? This system fills six fondue sets at the same time, it takes 20 seconds for each pot. Look next to it, it’s our old manual work platform. It took one to two minutes before to fill a pot, it’s a real efficiency gain.”
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The fondue is served by mobile robots in a huge room of 1,000 square meters with all the same the presence of staff, as Li Ying, public relations manager, explains: “The employees who wash or cut the vegetables do a very, very hard job. The robots replace them in this task, it allowed us to get these employees out of the kitchens and send them to work in the room.”
“We are a restaurant with warmth and a waiter’s smile cannot be replaced by a robot.”
Li Ying, Public Relations Managerat franceinfo
Most customers seem to find all this normal, especially since other similar experiences have already been carried out elsewhere in China: “For us it’s not really a fantastic thing, it reduces labor costs. Since the epidemic it has become even more trendy“says a woman at the table.
Another nuanced client:“As technology advances, smart products are going to enter into all aspects of our lives and I think we still need traditional restaurants.”
“Many customers like me prefer a lively and popular atmosphere.”
A restaurant customerat franceinfo
The Chinese authorities will take advantage of the Beijing Olympics, which begin on February 4, to show the country’s know-how in this area. The restaurant at the Olympics media center will also be entirely robotised, for the preparation of meals and the service intended for several thousand foreign journalists.