I love this a lot -- huge overcooked fan so this is right in the middle of me genre preferences. The snark of the customers and whimsy of having your crucible explode are both great touches and give the game a distinct sense of self. I love the additional mechanic of having to decide the tool at the anvil and how it adds challenge without significant gameplay (or dev) complexity.
The downside is basically what folks have said -- a constrained order set on the earlier levels to learn the items would have gone a long way and the timing is brutal (coming from someone who has 4-stared all of overcooked 2 and most of the DLC) unless there was a pipelining opportunity I missed.
In all this is a great entry with a fantastic twist on this style of mechanic.