Innovative restaurant enhances cuisine with light
Beyond serving wonderful meals, Rustic Kitchen Bistro & Bar films weekly cooking shows — from its in-house restaurant studio — which is televised on a New England cable network.
Lighting designer Scott Ferriero of Boston Light Source wanted to illuminate the on-air host and guests with the precise "shade" of white light for the cooking show — without the heat, power consumption and short source lifespan of conventional light sources.
iW Blast 12 TR luminaires (now specified with Blast Powercore, IntelliHue) solely illuminate the on-air guests during the show. The luminaire allows for adjustable, white light in multiple color temperatures and is specifically designed for entertainment environments with a replaceable lens, protective face cover, standard XLR connectors and a housing that easily accommodates truss clamps.
Ferriero chose Blast luminaires for a variety of reasons including its low energy consumption and low heat output, but most importantly for its color corrective abilities. Ferriero can set the exact color temperature for the set and adjust it as needed on the fly (within the range of 2700–6500 K). And for filming, the luminaires can be used to white balance the high definition camera, rendering colors on-screen as they actually appear in the person.
Twelve Blast luminaires (with a frosted lens) are suspended 10-feet above the studio kitchen to project high-quality white light onto the on-air talent. Fixed on a semicircular truss, the luminaires are spaced 2 feet apart to evenly illuminate the kitchen with uniform white light.
Lighting scenes are preset for the filming of the show. The "show" scene solely uses Blast luminaires to illuminate the host and guests, while all other light sources are turned off. The "after show" scene turns the luminaires up to full intensity to help direct traffic out of the studio. The lighting scenes are triggered via a third-party DMX control solution.
In addition, over 200 linear feet of eW Cove Powercore (in 2700 K) provides accent lighting to the audience tables. This linear LED-based luminaire is also discretely installed in a private dining room to uplight the ceiling’s alcove.
Throughout the restaurant, patrons and studio chefs can benefit from high quality white light — without added heat that conventional sources typically generate — allowing them to enjoy their meals and the show.
