Setting up a restaurant business involves a lot of organization and hard work from business and building permits to furnishing the restaurant and hiring a staff.
However, the most essential task you need to attend to and make sure to get right is setting up what will be the heart of your business operations; your commercial kitchen.
But how exactly do you do this? Well, here are some factors you might want to consider when designing your commercial kitchen.
THE BASICS
Before everything else, you need to take note of some important basic details regarding your restaurant business. What are these exactly? Well, below are 7 things we think are pretty important….
1. BUDGET
Your finances is one of the most important considerations you need to think of when setting up your commercial kitchen. No matter how you may choose the best equipment and appliances, if you can’t afford them, then you wouldn’t be able to accomplish much of anything. So make sure to work around your budget. This way, you will be able to start operations and start earning profits.
2. SIZE
Be sure to have adequate space for your kitchen staff to efficiently work in. You don’t want your chefs to have to avoid knocking elbows and getting into accidents because your stations are too small or that your aisles don’t allow for ample foot traffic. Aside from the necessary kitchen stations and aisles, there’s also the necessary storage space. So make sure you have sufficient floor space for at least the necessary main areas of a commercial kitchen.
3. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
Aside from the size, you should also take note of the other physical properties of your kitchen—the type of floor, the number of doors and windows, as well as the placement of water pipes, electrical outlets, and floor drains. All these will help you in designing your floor plan and organizing your kitchen stations.
4. WASTE MANAGEMENT
Disposal of your garbage and other trade waste should be properly handled. You need to ensure this task will not hamper or worse, adversely affect the other work that will be going on in your kitchen during business operating hours. So make sure to have adequate storage and collection for your garbage and recyclables. For more information about this you should check out Food Safety Standards for Australia.
By law your food business will need to install what’s known as a Grease Trap, Grease Interceptor or Grease Arrestor – they all mean the same thing. What is a Grease Trap? Good question!
Basically it’s a container that your kitchen waste water passes through and all the fats, oils and grease produced by your food production is collected and held within the container. The clean water continues into the sewerage system. This keeps the waterways clear and your pipes unblocked from the sludge build up.
The regulations and size of Grease Trap can be complex and changes with each area and Water Authorities Rules and Regulations. Citi Industries have over 20 years experience in Grease Trap Supply and Installation. Contact Us today for help in choosing the right system for your commercial kitchen and pricing of your Grease Trap.
5. YOUR KITCHEN STAFF
Getting advice from professionals about which appliances and kitchen equipment to buy is a great idea. However, they are not the only ones you should be consulting. Asking suggestions from the people who will actually be working in your kitchen is also an excellent notion. This is especially true for your head chefs. After all, they would know the best setup that would make work for the kitchen staff more seamless, maximizing foot traffic efficiency and minimizing order delays.
And yes, no arrangement might be 100% efficient, but if you can arrange a setup with the least margin of error, why not try that… right?
6. YOUR MENU
Deciding what kind of dishes your restaurant is going to serve will help you know which equipment you’d need, as well as what stations you should set up. For instance, if you’re planning to serve Italian cuisine, then most probably you’d have a pasta station. Or if you plan to serve Asian cuisines with lots of steamed dishes, then you’d need a steam station.
Moreover, think ahead. Include your future plans to the design. Perhaps you want to add healthier options in your menu in the future, which means you might add a salad station then. So make space for those beforehand.
After you decide which stations you need, then you would be able to come up with the best and most efficient floor plan for your commercial kitchen. Keep in mind that conscientious planning will save you from expensive modifications or renovations in the future.
7. YOUR STORAGE
Once you know what kind of cuisine and how big your menu will be, then you’ll be able to know what kind of ingredients and supplies your staff would need to purchase and have on hand when your business opens. And to manage this, you will need ample storage space for them. Moreover, you will need freezers and other cold storage spaces for your perishables, as well as dry utility shelves that follow health and safety codes. You don’t want to have haphazard shelving that might cause injuries and be potential lawsuits.
Once you have a commercial kitchen design that you’re happy with, then you can start buying the necessary commercial kitchen equipment, sinks, tapware and supplies. After all, making sure you purchase quality durable kitchen equipment will save you money in the long run.
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