gareth ladley's bespoke auxiliary tools custom made for chefs

May 12, 2023

gareth ladley's bespoke auxiliary tools custom made for chefsall images courtesy of gareth ladley design

a chef's greatest tool is their knife, with a nice piece of steel and a mission, a master handler can complete dozens of tasks. secondary to the sacred-status blade is a wide-range of other products, all handled by an equally diversified kitchen crew. every piece of equipment and every body present is crucial to the efficiency of the establishment, and gareth ladley thinks there's room for one more: an in-house designer.

in a distant world where the motley beings of the culinary underbelly are capable of getting along with everyone — don't hold your breath — ladley sees the possibility of embedding designers within the kitchen to make bespoke tools catered specifically for the chef. ‘auxiliary tools’ would use low cost tooling methods, like 3D printing, to design and produce useful equipment via insights gained in residence. through rapid prototypes and renditions, it would be possible to make devices on short notice for individual recipes or procedures.

to showcase the concept, ladley created a range of tools with additional insight provided by chef diarmuid rogan and his crew. included are: an egg spinner for in the shell scrambling, aerator for froths and similar needs, spinner for plating, and a custom-made lathe for peeling and sculpting. at the heart of the line, is a single handheld power source that plugs into all devices. it's the hope of ladley that by using only one element equipments that would ordinarily sit idle — done by hand rather than by machine — will be used as they should be.

potato lathe

aerator, for making froths and liquids

spinner, for rapidly turning sauces and caramelized sugar

making crème brûlée

‘auxiliary tools’ in the kitchen

multi-use power handle

plate-spinner sauce test

early egg spinner prototype

3D printed egg holder with power drill attached

as the drill spins, the egg scrambles, ridding the need of doing it by whisk

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom