Well-lit studio kitchen makes food look fantastic
Rustic Kitchen Bistro & Lounge, a Boston-based restaurant, opened the doors to its fourth and largest location at the Park Square in downtown Boston in October 2006. The atmosphere emits an inviting glow, largely due to its famous wood burning oven and warm lighting.
Scott Ferriero, lighting designer for Rustic Kitchen, envisioned attractive lighting to accent alcoves, and also to give added depth to the main bar and studio kitchen. He explored various light sources, including neon and fluorescent, but they did not offer the desired color temperatures or the long-life, low-maintenance nature of LEDs. He therefore chose a combination of white LED-based luminaires from Color Kinetics to suit various applications.
To properly accentuate the Biltmore-inspired ceiling in the restaurant’s Tuscan Room, iW Cove Powercore luminaires were installed in a linear fashion within the ceiling’s alcove (now specified as PureStyle Compact Powercore, IntelliHue). Unlike conventional white light fixtures, iW Cove Powercore allows color temperature control within the range of 3000 K to 6500 K, offering variable atmosphere with the simple push of a button. Also unlike conventional sources, white LEDs maintain their precise color temperature even as they’re dimmed. The easily controllable nature of iW Cove Powercore also made it well suited for use in the restaurant’s ‘studio kitchen,’ which is used for cooking seminars and the filming of Web and televised cooking programs. The variable shades of white light help to customize the environment ‘on the fly’ for filming. The luminaires are controlled by iW Scene Controller, a fully integrated controller keypad, which activates four pre-set scenes.
Elsewhere in the restaurant, Ferriero required the practical benefits of LED sources in a simple luminaire without the need for color temperature control. He chose eW Cove, a similarly compact and linear luminaire that generates high-quality white light in three distinct color temperatures (2700 K, 3000 K, 4200 K). It was used to accent certain spaces and create depth within the main bar, as well as the half-moon shaped counters and underside of the bar in the studio kitchen.
“I have been incorporating Color Kinetics’ LED systems for applications of color in my designs for over 5 years now, and I am still fascinated by the technology,” said Ferriero. “This is my first time using the white-light product lines, and I have not been disappointed. They have lived up to my expectations and beyond.” LED lighting solutions offer restaurateurs a plentitude of controllable and scalable lighting options, while reducing energy and maintenance costs compared with traditional light sources.
