KC chef blends tech and fine dining: Delighting patrons with one-of-a-kind experience
Dominique Allen, the executive chef for Hotel Phillips in downtown Kansas City, has added something fun and foreign in this area to KC’s dining landscape with Le Petite Chef and Friends, a technology-driven 3D immersive dinner show.
The 37-year-old Georgia native moved to Kansas City in 2015. Since then, he has dedicated his talents in the kitchen to experimenting with how to raise the level of enjoyment that diners get during the traditional restaurant eating experience by marrying great food with a bit of technology magic.
Imagine a tiny little three-dimensional chef, speaking French or some other language, while dancing and moving around on your dinner plate and appearing to prepare exactly the meal you ordered? Modern, playful, different.
And Allen says he may be just getting started with his quest to find more innovative ways to improve on the Kansas City dining experience.
Recently, Allen sat down with The Kansas City Star’s culture and identity reporter, J.M. Banks, to talk about the creative process of cooking, dining with technology, and using food as a way to bring people of all ages and backgrounds together.
Banks: Can you begin by telling me about your early life and upbringing?
Allen: I was born in Savannah, Georgia and I was raised in New York City. After I graduated high school, I went into the (United States) Air Force. I was there for five years and deployed twice. After that I decided to start my culinary journey and take my cooking a little bit more serious. I got my culinary arts degree and I relocated here in 2015 and started my chef career here. I worked in fine dining and healthcare dining for about six years then I became a teacher for three years at Operation breakthrough teaching the kids. I wrote the culinary curriculum for Travis Kelce’s Ignition Lab and after that I got the position here (Hotel Phillips at 106 West 12th Street, Kansas City).
What made you want to start cooking as a career?
I love to feed people. I really loved the creativity and art behind it. Making food that tastes good is always a battle. The idea of you creating art from essentially nothing with food and the details involved. I found I had this desire to be creative and to make something that is beautiful to look at, but you also get the pay off of watching them enjoying it when they eat.
Can you tell me about your work?
Last November, we decided to bring Le Petite Chef from Germany here. I first saw a clip on Instagram and decided to get in contact with them. They have way more of these dining experiences overseas and all throughout Europe. I wanted to bring that here. There is another Le Petite show in Nashville but it is a beginner show. We are the only place in the U.S. doing the full dinner show and the only show of its kind. It is big for me that I am the one that was able to bring this here.
Can you tell me more about the Le Petite Chef and Friends dinner show?
It is a 3D immersive video that plays on the table top from a projector positioned above the table. There are four different animations that play through each of the courses. Each of the animations tells the story of a tiny chef from a different country like Spain, Italy, France and Japan. You actually see this animation cover the table and these cartoon figures walking around and interacting with your plate. Each country has its own design and layout and we will prepare courses to correlate with the animations. Meanwhile, I will be back in the kitchen preparing the real food while they watch the animated chefs. It is a lot of moving parts to make sure that everyone is served at the same time and on time. Service usually runs about an hour and 45 minutes.
What are the challenges that you face in your career?
The main challenges I faced were when I first started. Coming here as a young chef not from Kansas City and trying to tap into whichever lane I felt I fit in. I found my lane and I want to bring attractions here, specifically food attractions and change the way we have a meal. I want to elevate the dining experience by combining things like technology with the food service. That is something that is new and exciting for me.
How do you feel your work impacts the community around you?
I think this dining experience brings people together. It is a one-of-a-kind experience that is fun for people of all ages. We are introducing them to another side of cooking through technology and adding an additional layer of fun. This just feels like a “new age” dining experience and I am happy to be able to do something different.
What is the most fulfilling part of your work?
I get excited every time for people to enjoy this experience and I get to see them tap into their inner child seeing something new and different. Getting to provide this experience that people will never forget. I believe that food, relationships and experiences all go hand in hand.
Do you have a personal motto or philosophy that guides you?
The recipe has no soul. Because it is the chef that gives that dish its soul and brings it to life. That is what a real chef does, they bring food to life.
Do you have a memorable achievement in your personal journey thus far that stands out?
Just having people tell me that this was the best dining experience that they have ever had, and I have heard that a lot. Just being able to give people something new and exciting is big for me.
What are your goals for the future?
My main goal is to bring Kansas City its first Michelin Star and I plan on doing that in the next couple of years. I want to find new exciting attractions to bring to Kansas City to enhance the dining experience and continue to push the envelope to change the way we think about what is possible in the kitchen and on the table.
What advice would you give to someone who is looking to follow the same career path as yourself?
Be uncomfortable, you have to put yourself out there and always have humility.
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