A robotic sous-chef named Alfred has started working at a Massachusetts restaurant.

Alfred, a robotic sous-chef, began its first day of work at a Boston Mediterranean restaurant Thursday.

The robot will be preparing salads and bowls at Bonapita in West Roxbury, the company said.

Alfred comes from Dexai Robotics, a leading provider of intelligent robotics solutions for commercial kitchens, according to the company. Dexai and the Department of Defense also recently joined together to install 10 Alfred robots in multiple U.S. military bases across the country.

“Robots have come a long way from the days of massive, multi-million-dollar machines, and complex, purpose-built installations,” Dexai CEO David Johnson said in a statement. “Alfred is able to work in practically any commercial kitchen, and adapts to your existing menu, even if that changes seasonally.”

The “smart” robots, like Alfred, are able to “continuously learn, adapt, and improve performance in the field.”

As Alfred learns more about the job at the Mediterranean restaurant, all other Alfred robots will learn the same tasks, “a feature that’s particularly advantageous in the restaurant industry, where high turnover rates force employees to learn various tasks to alleviate the dramatic labor shortage,” the company said.

Shortages of employees have impacted Bonapita during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re very excited to have Alfred in our kitchen,” Bonapita owner Ilan Barniv said in a statement. “We had to find alternative solutions following 2-plus years of extreme employee shortages. The installation was quick, and it’s very easy to use. We didn’t have to remodel or change the layout of the kitchen. And most importantly, we didn’t have to alter our menu.”

Click here to watch Alfred in action.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.