Interesting reconstruction of the kitchen in a Roman street bar (coupona or thermopolium), located in the Lugdunum museum in the French city of Lyon.
These types of bars were located on the ground floor of the insula. A typical thermopolium consisted of a small room with an extended stone/brick counter. In such a counter there were earthen jars (dolia), in which the fried and prepared food was placed. In this reconstruction, we see the back of the kitchen where there was a separate table on which food could be cut. There is also a coal hearth or furnace (furnus).
For comparison, Roman houses had small, minimalist kitchens. These were dark, smoky and windowless rooms. On the walls there were hooks and chains for hanging dishes (pots, pans), knives, meat forks, sieves, graters and other utensils.
Kitchens were a luxury that not all inhabitants of Rome could afford, hence the numerous bars in the street, which were eagerly used by commoners.
