Building on its tradition of helping its customers understand the benefits of natural gas, especially in the kitchen, earlier this year ONE Gas introduced its Education and Training, or EAT, Area in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The 2,900-square-foot space serves two distinct roles in natural gas and energy efficiency education: Its residential filming kitchen provides a filming set where chefs can display their skills using natural gas appliances, and its commercial kitchen gives restaurant equipment suppliers a convenient location to offer hands-on demonstrations of their equipment to potential food service customers.
“For more than 100 years, our company has provided customers not only with natural gas, but also with recipes, cooking tips and energy efficiency information,” Lori Taylor, customer programs representative at ONE Gas, told American Gas. “After all these years, it makes sense that the answer driving us toward our goal of innovation and sustainability is to circle back to where our story first began—in the kitchen.”
Because the EAT Area highlights top-of-the-line food service equipment, typical users of the space are restaurant owners, equipment manufacturers, chefs, schools and anyone working with commercial cooking equipment.
“By hosting current or potential commercial clients in the space, we aim to drive adoption of high-efficiency gas cooking equipment,” Taylor said. “We do this by offering tactile interaction with our product, laying the groundwork for a seamless customer experience from education to procurement and end use.”
According to Taylor, the commercial test kitchen gives customers a firsthand look at the efficiency and reliability of natural gas through real-time comparisons between natural gas and electric appliances, while everything about the residential filming kitchen was designed for optimal film presentation, including the appliance and island placement, hood ventilation height and finishes. The residential filming kitchen even includes clips and plug-ins in the ceiling to accommodate lights and cameras.
Since opening in January 2023, ONE Gas has hosted more than 700 people in the space, which is available free of charge to applicable groups across the company’s footprint in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.