Kitchen exhaust fan?

We have been upgrading our kitchen. We tore out some cabinets that hung from the soffit over the stove. These cabinets were a partial block of our dining room so if you ducked down or moved to one side of the stove you could look into the diring room. So now when I stand at the stove I look directly into the dining room and there is a bar area directly behind the slide in stove. My question is: should I install a ceiling fan into the soffit where the pre - existing exhaust system is hooked up or some sort of hood? We previously had a hood system built into the cabinets. Personally, I think a hood system would not be attractive, even though higher then eye level, but maybe you guys have an opinion I ought to consider. Thanks.