Boston restaurant has brand-new chefs: robots

At Boston restaurant Spyce, robots will cook your meal in about three minutes.

WBZ-TV reported that the restaurant — conceived by four MIT engineering students and launched with French chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud — was inspired by "something we learned in school."

The kitchen is run by robots, which cook meals using a "sautéing technique," and are assisted by human food preppers.

"We did a lot of classes that involved robots doing different tasks," one of the students, Brady Knight, said.

He added, "The way our robot cooks it sort of uses a sautéing technique and it cooks a personalized meal for you in like 2.5 minutes."

Customers enter the restaurant, and use a touch-screen ordering system to punch in their customized order.

Customers can also watch while the robots prepare their meals and humans place the finishing touches.

Dishes offered include Thai, Moroccan, and Indian fare, and more.

"You can get in line, order and be out the door in three minutes or less," Knight said, noting that each meal bowl goes for about $8.

Grace Uvezian, Spyce’s head of marketing and public relations, said that the concept was intended to provide people healthy, affordable, and efficient food choices.

"Our purpose is to increase access to wholesome and delicious food for people at all income levels," Uvezian said. "When our founders were undergraduates at MIT, they couldn’t afford to spend $10 to $12 on one meal and knew they weren’t alone. Too many people were being priced out of quality. Spyce is at the intersection of hospitality and technology; by combining appropriately sourced ingredients with our robotic kitchen, we’re able to provide meals at $7.50."

Spyce opens Thursday at 241 Washington St. in Boston’s Downtown Crossing, according to Eater.