...on home cooking vs restaurant cooking

So, I was in a pub having dinner the other night and I could see, from where I was sitting, the grill chef doing his thing. As he worked up the different orders, I noticed that the kitchen had a serving area where plates were laid out and the food added as it became ready. (Obviously this is not the first time I've noticed this!) What really struck me this time, though, was that the chef didn't have to time all the different bits to be ready at once, he just served each bit onto the plate as it was ready.

Now, every now and again we have a dinner that we call 'Diner Dinner'. We basically list out all the different choices of freezer food we have and everyone gets to pick whatever they want. As an example, we had Diner Dinner yesterday and the choices were:

Mains
Kiev
Fish
SF chicken goujons and bites
Pork chop
Pizza
chicken breast with SF coating

Potato
Jacket
Chips
Wedges

Veg
Baked beans
Corn cob
Carrots
Broccoli
Cabbage

Sides
Onion rings
Garlic bread
Indian snacks

Unsurprisingly, everyone always wants something different so I end up cooking about 10 different things. Unlike the restaurants I don't have a means of keeping food warm so I have to time everything to all finish at the same time, so that everyone gets what they want and it's all hot and cooked properly!

I've decided that I'm going to have a new kitchen gadget. A bar of lights that pulls down from the ceiling so that I can keep foood warm, then it rises back up out of the way when I'm done.

What do you think???