MORE ON PUTTING CREATIVITY IN THE HANDS OF EVERY GUEST

Direct burger creation by guests was not yet unveiled at the original SoMa restaurant - but the downtime of COVID provided an opportunity for the Creator team to realize this long-held vision and purpose of such automation. Options to customize complex pairings effortlessly at the touch of a button include more than 25 new sauces and seasonings, and new toppings such as lardons, caramelized onions, locally-sourced Petaluma Creamery cheese and house-cured pickles.

Chefs are empowered as well to scale their creations infinitely with precision, freeing up time and energy to focus on new & exciting menu items. With the specter of a permanent labor shortage, Creator can head off the endless search for line cooks to execute a chef's vision over and over again. What's more, the work environment at Creator doesn't entail standing over an unhealthy, grease-vapor-emitting griddle - instead, the indoor air quality is unparalleled, with all pollutants entirely contained. With more humane conditions, we may see greater employee retention. And in more teaming with the times, Creator's model is cost-conscious, starting at $6 a burger.

NEW CAPABILITIES OF THIS DESIGN

With this iteration of the device, engineers focused on honing what our device does best - in its most radically-peak-differentiation moments. At the center of this is: even finer-tuned ground-and-grilled-to-order patty-making; precision of saucing to the mililiter & seasoning to the gram. This time, we are now able to put these better-than-handmade techniques in the hands of guests, where they can control the device and personalize their burger in ways one couldn't before.

Brisket & chuck patties are even more juicy, maillardy, and perfectly done. Patties are griddled on both sides simultaneously in a compact, trim, sealed part of the device. This device produces 30% faster burger-making and delivers the maillard crust more consistently while also maintaining a juicy, loosely packed, tender interior.

Sustainability, energy efficiency and a more humane work environment are features of the patty module as well. These elements were part of the device at 680 Folsom, as we have been committed to these benefits since the beginning. But, in our quest for scalability, greater simplicity and an even smaller device, we made some choices, and we chose to move ahead with the values above. The all-electric Creator griddle is a fraction of the footprint of a traditional flat top grill and its hulking thermal mass of heat. At Creator, indoor air quality is incomparable to any typical burger restaurant, with grease-laden vapors fully contained and separate from human-occupied airspaces. And the design of the griddle is incredibly efficient, keeping heat isolated and not forcing refrigerators, HVAC - or human beings - from contending with heat thrown off a traditional grill. This device is very flexible in terms of real estate, and can go into storefronts not built-out for typical burger-making - e.g., no range hood required.

Scalability. With this iteration, Creator prioritized scalability & simplicity. We are essentially pushing the boundaries at that sweet spot, that intersection of restaurant automation and scalability/production of the technology. We want to serve even more people in more locations. Simplicity and a smaller device helps us get there.

This iteration represents a focus on the most wasteful, unsustainable, robotic, and dangerous part of burger-making.

SUSTAINABILITY & A BETTER WORK ENVIRONMENT

The culinary device provides better air quality for workers and guests. No fossil fuels are burned in the restaurant. No combustion gasses. Hot grease vapors are kept in a fully contained, non-human-occupied airstream. The burgers are griddled on both sides simultaneously - high-density production - in a completely sealed part of the robot. The grease vapors are directed in this contained airstream and exited from the space and filtered out.

This is the exact opposite of a traditional open-air griddle that occupies most commercial kitchens - big hot thermal masses throwing off a lot of heat. Refrigerators and HVAC systems are then having to compete and strain against all that, cooling and exhausting to create a humane temperature for the humans working within.

At Creator, efficient energy use is on a new level. Creator is an all electric restaurant. The induction griddle only powers up when cooking a burger order, whereas most burger griddles are gas and are on continuously.

Creator is a carbon neutral dining experience, from sourcing to cooking to serving. Our low energy use compared to other restaurants makes going carbon neutral affordable.

Creator is investing in a more sustainable food system. Rather than purchasing carbon credits, we put the money back into the system we are a part of. With our partnership with ZeroFoodprint, we are supporting the growth of and R&D in regenerative agriculture.

For more on how Creator makes burgers more sustainable from both a technical, cooking operations standpoint as well as a sourcing standpoint, see our previous year's submission: Creator: Serving the freshest burger ever, with culinary techniques impossible by hand. - by Creator & Montaag / Core77 Design Awards