Fleka

Combistar FX

In 2006, team including Miloš Milošević and architect Massimo Mussapi was assembled in order to give shape to new generation of Angelo Po ovens. Their competitors have already been preparing new intelligent devices equipped with all sorts of features - LCD touchscreen, multi-functionality, connectivity, great looks. Angelo Po decided to take all those attributes one step further and set an example in the area of industrial design.

Industrial design is the field of design that is the middle ground between art, design, science and technology. It requires people from different fields to cooperate together, understand each other's work. This project was no exception: final product had to be perfect blend of interface design, mechanics of the oven, selection of materials and many other technical, aesthetic and usability details. Many hours were spent testing and adjusting, even the minor details, in order to perfectly suit professionals that would use the oven.

Baking the details

Contemporary chefs resemble rock stars. People invest great deal of money and time only to taste their recipes. However, they don’t see the kitchen frenzy: cooks and assistants running around, preparing different kinds of very sensitive food that requires different temperatures and cooking times simultaneously. Even the slightest mistake, man-made or machine-made can be cause of disaster. That’s why we prioritized to craft an oven so reliable and usable, in order to minimize the margin of error and let chefs dazzle the crowd as smoothly as possible.

LCD touchscreen

LCD screen was one of the greater challenges we encountered. It had to be very responsive to the touch, but also very firm and durable. We had cooks testing materials and sensitivity under great amount of scenarios - greasy hands, cold hands, warm hands, busy hands. We also encountered different design issues, one of many being the adjustment of signage towards very wide group of customers (the oven is to be shipped worldwide, and we didn’t want to risk that something that Italian chef reads as pork gets mistaken for something else in Japan). Eventually, we went with photographs instead of graphical signs because they didn’t cause any potential confusion.

Multifunctional handle

The handle, made and patented by Massimo, was another of the challenges. The regular handle is great when there’s free hand to grab it and open the door; the usual scenario included chefs having to put away one of the trays they’re carrying in order to do it. Thus, second handle mechanism was born: in addition to regular one, “elbow handle” was introduced. It enabled chefs to push the door from the side with their elbow without wasting time and space.

Combistar FX had its debut earlier this year. We are confident that, being carefully crafted and tested, it is going to be valuable addition to any professional kitchen worldwide.

Photo courtesy of Angelo Po.