Creator Robotic Hamburger Chef & Restaurant
- Shape+Store Burger Master 8-in-1 Innovative Burger Press - $26.99
- Weston Burger Hamburger Press - $18.79
- Presto Quick Burger 400-Watt Nonstick Hamburger Cooker - $59.95
- Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Grill with Non Stick Plates - $29.99
- George Foreman 4-Serving Removable Plate Grill & Panini Press - $29.92
Creator, like any good chef, makes hamburgers from scratch. To order. With great care. But unlike just about every other chef out there (jury's still out on Giada) Creator is a robot. An elaborate burger-slinging machine. And not like your Uncle Jerry who always brags about how he was the burger-slinging machine when he worked at White Castle during college. Creator is a legit machine, 14' tall and fitted with 350 sensors, 20 computers, and 50 actuator mechanisms.
Exactly the specs the robot needs to fresh-grind and grill a 4-ounce beef patty and place it on a brioche bun, which it has already stacked tall with with sliced-to-order pickles, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, cheese, and one of several special sauces. And for a mere $6.
Creator works in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, having just opened for business at the end of June 2018. A host of humans, some formerly of Tesla, NASA, and Disney are behind the robotic chef's debut; their culinary robotics company is also called Creator. On the culinary side, former Chez Panisse chef David Bardow is shaping the (currently) 4-burger strong menu and sides, along with a few other Bay Area chefs, including Nick Balla and Tu David Phu.
At printing, Creator was serving up meticulously-machined burgers only to those who have purchased advanced tickets to lunch there. And, yes, if you are able to score a Creator burger, there is a "there" you'll be able to go, sit, relax, and eat it. The storefront occupies 2,200 square feet of space at 680 Folsom St. The interior has white walls, a concrete floor, and wood-accented materials so, Creator says, Chef Creator gets all the attention.
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