R\Lab is a multimedia space for events and more.
Have you always wanted to have your own cooking show? Perhaps create a pop-up restaurant and make your family’s treasured recipes for all of your loved ones?
Within the walls of the Renaissance Reno Downtown Hotel and Spa, executive chef Jacob Burton has forged a culinary space with nearly infinite possibilities, these included. If you can dream it up, the R\Lab team can bring it to life.
Burton, a graduate of California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, orchestrated the conversion of this space from the diner it was long ago into a spectacular multisensory setting in which to cook. This creative, high-tech kitchen space opened in October 2022 with a food-focused boot camp that hosted curious culinarians from across the country over a period of five days.
R\Lab welcomes cooks of all experience levels, with plenty of prep space and two stoves. Surrounding the state-of-the-art, open-studio kitchen are eight high-definition cameras and multiple television screens on which to watch the action from any angle. There even are lapel microphones for those on screen.
Far beyond a commissary kitchen, R\Lab offers ringside seats to all the action in a professional kitchen, and the opportunity to be immersed in a back-of-house experience.
“That’s where I see a lot of fun for the space — it can transform depending upon what we want to do in there,” Burton says. “It’s conducive to a really high-end, multicourse tasting-menu/wine-pairing series exploring the culinary regions of France over the course of six days so you can really come in and learn… It’s for a formal event; a fully immersive, customized event; or just a simple casual event where guests all feel at home in that space.”
Say your family has a running battle over who’s the best cook. Book R\Lab to settle the score with an Iron Chef-style battle, with your friends and family members invited to watch. The R\Lab team will film the showdown, even livestream it to your social media channels, and provide you with a copy to share and relive in the future.
Burton explains the possibilities are truly limitless with the kitchen’s capabilities. If you’ve long dreamed of bringing the restaurant of your imagination to fruition, head to R\Lab. From start to finish, Burton and his team will work with you to create custom menus, design the correct look and feel of your restaurant in the space, and help you live your dream without having to return for clean-up the next day.
Educational aspects of R\Lab are exciting to Burton. A seasoned professional who went through Le Cordon Bleu as well, he loves to teach students the how, why, and what of working in the kitchen. Burton helps them get past using recipes as a crutch by providing them with a deep understanding of how flavors intermingle, foundations, basic kitchen techniques, and how to start from square one.
He strives to capture the natural educational content that emerges in restaurant kitchens, then have it live on forever as a powerful keepsake in video form.
“If you can dream it up, we can do it,” Burton says. “That space is made to transform to your vision … and we would love nothing more than for people to come in with crazy, outlandish ideas.”
For details about booking and upcoming events, visit Stella-culinary.ck.page/92b5a5e815 and sign up to receive the email newsletter.
Freelance writer and immersive-dining fan Natasha Bourlin, co-creator of Reno’s first Restaurant Week, is thrilled to see the region’s culinary experiences continuing to elevate and innovate with places such as R\Lab.
