Open kitchens: customers' influence on chefs' working practices

The open kitchen as a customer restaurant vista is an emerging phenomenon. The existing research on chefs has primarily focused on the dark side of professional kitchen work which is often facilitated by being closed production spaces. To date, limited research has explored the transformation of chefs' experience through the re-orientation of their work environment from closed to open kitchens which now necessitate customer engagement. We build on the research gap, by investigating chefs’ perceptions of this transition, through a Goffmanian lens to theorise the impact of customer interactions. Purposive and snowball sampling strategies were employed to identify and interview twenty-eight chefs located in different cities in the UK. Chefs spoke passionately about how their social reality and shared perceptions of kitchen work are shifting due to exposure to customers. Fundamental, positive changes are occurring for chefs' working practices and the skills required in meeting the demands of the experience economy. Theoretically, our novel findings offer a fresh perspective of the modern chef and advance the conversation beyond the negative connotations portrayed of kitchen life.