7.7: Classroom Preparation Assignments

Facilty Planning Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

1. Introductory paragraph
2. Décor and architectural design.
3. Location
4. Equipment and resources available
5. Management plan

Example

Respite

INTRODUCTION

In the past three concepts, I’ve been working on the logistical planning of a Nashville-based fast-casual restaurant that I have finally named Respite, as I’d like the food and the atmosphere of my restaurant to be a respite or an oasis for my guests, even for just a half hour. I had some difficulties planning a restaurant that combined the elegance of a full-service, made-to-order establishment with the accessibility and lack of pretense that a fast-food or a casual restaurant has. Most importantly, I wanted to serve seasonal foods to my guests without expecting them to pay for all the atmosphere and pretense of your typical restaurant that serves seasonal foods. I do not want my guests to feel obligated to tip, driving the cost of their meal up even more.

Fusing all these elements is a challenge, but through research, I have found a Los Angeles-based restaurant that seems embrace goals similar to mine. While they offer a more expansive menu, guests order and pay at the counter, and waiters provide food service to the tables.

This is exactly how I would like my operation to be set up - high quality food in a decent atmosphere at a reasonable price. Guests will order from a counter, take their seats, and we will take care of the rest.

LOCATION

The proposed location for Respite is 1000 Division Street in Nashville, Tennessee. This unit is a rented space currently in construction on the ground level of a condominium building—potentially, our customers will live right above us. It is located on Division Street, one block from 12th Avenue South, one of Nashville’s integral stretches of road.

Division Street is a 4-lane road, and, while Respite will not provide a parking area for our guests, there are at least three parking garages and several parking lots in the vicinity. In fact, Respite is located next to a parking garage and across the street is a parking lot that offers free parking for one hour. In addition to these pay-to-park places, there is also street parking on some of the sub-streets a short walk from the restaurant. The nearby parking garages offer free secure parking for bicycles, so perhaps that would be a good point to advertise.

Logistics of Operation

Because the restaurant is a storefront style, deliveries will need to enter through the front door, meaning we will need to schedule deliveries only when the restaurant itself is not open. Because we are located in a storefront, we cannot use tall signposts, but we can just as easily make the exterior of our operation distinctive and noticeable to those who drive by, or those who walk by every day. Because Division Street is mostly for thru traffic, there should be limited noise coming from traffic; however, the neighborhood is still growing, and it is very possible there will be noise from construction until the area finishes developing. Because the unit is still in construction, we can have input on how the exterior of the building is landscaped and styled.

SIZE CONSIDERATIONS

I calculated the dining room size of my restaurant given that I would like 16 square feet per guest and that I would like to seat 70 guests at once at most, leaving me needing a dining room size of 1120 square feet. Our kitchen does not need to be luxurious, but we do need plenty of room to make sure everyone can work comfortably. I would like to allot 1000 square feet for the kitchen, and then round the whole facility off to a total of 2500 square feet, to leave some room for the entrance and restrooms.

The entire facility will be non-smoking. The dining room will feature a counter from which our guests will order; this counter will also function as the bar from which we serve local beers from Yazoo and Jackalope brewing companies, right down the street. Even if I do not want an open kitchen, where the line and the dining room are all one room, I would like to have a viewing window from the dining room into the kitchen. This creates a sense of transparency, and even a source of entertainment, for our guests, who can see exactly where their food is coming from.

DÉCOR AND ARCHITECTURE

Respite should be very clean and modern looking; I do not want it to look futuristic, but rather very open, clean, and comfortable. I would like to use a lot of natural lighting during the day, which should save on energy costs, at least marginally. I would like to use sealed wooden tabletops that clean easily. The order counter will be very natural looking too, with wood panels.

MANAGEMENT

I plan on taking the risk, and reaping the reward, of my restaurant being a sole proprietorship. For the time being, I plan on Respite being an independent unit with no plans on corporate ownership or franchising. In addition to the kitchen staff and dishwashers, I would like to hire a sous chef and a dining room manager.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

Because our location is brand new, it does not come with any existing equipment. So, for the kitchen alone, I will need:

• Three compartment pot sink
• Autochlor dishwasher
• At least one convection oven
• Two 6-top gas ranges with ovens beneath
• A gas grill
• A two-compartment fryer
• Prep tables and surfaces
• A walk-in fridge
• A walk-in freezer
• A vacuum sealer

Layout Example and Thought Process

Equipment Layout and Justification

The easy and casual restaurant that I designed is a combination of two restaurants that I have personally worked at. I choose what I liked about both of them and formed them together.

One of the things that I liked the most about these restaurants is that they both have designated “in” and “out” doors. This makes it easy for the movement in and out of the kitchen to be fluid and prevent against people running into one another. When the wait staff enters the kitchen, the door leads them right into the dish room and the registers to ticket their orders. A waiter with dirty dishes can just walk in and drop it off, if not, then they are probably coming into the kitchen to record a sale and the registers are right there. I made sure that there was not only an AutoClor for the plates and silverware, but also a three-compartment sink for all of the pots, pans, and cooking equipment. I put a cabinet with all of the cleaning equipment in the same place so that everything for the dishes is available in the same place. Finally, in this section of the kitchen, I made room for drying areas and storage of all of the pots, pans, equipment, and utensils.

Along the back of the kitchen, I made room for a big walk in cooler, walk in Freezer, and Dry storage. I wanted to make sure that the freezer was separate from the cooler because I have been in a situation where someone did not close the freezer and it froze everything in the cooler. In the back, I also wanted to make room for a hotbox. We had one in the Bistro Kitchen and it was great to use for things that you can make in advance and held at a certain temperature throughout service. I also added an additional spice rack for all of the spices most commonly used in the kitchen since we make many things in house. The reason for putting all of this main stuff in the back was to make sure that is was all located in the same part of the kitchen and made it easy for any part of the kitchen to get to it. This way the staff can walk to the back to get all of the stuff they need in one trip whether it be in dry storage, the cooler, or even the freezer.

Below is my suggested floor plan for a smart, casual restaurant that serves 160 covers.

(You can construct a floor in Excel. Set the row width to 2.73, which will produce ‘square’ cells with each representing one square foot.)

Since this restaurant offers soups and salads for appetizers I wanted to make sure that, they had their own prep space. I included three different large prep spaces, along with smaller prep counters on top of all of the reach in coolers throughout the kitchen.

I included two soup kettles for the two different soups served and made in house. By the kettles, I placed tilt skillets for large batches of sautéed items or use of homemade stocks. The kitchen will utilize gas stoves and grills to help lower the expenses. I placed the grill, stove, top, and fryers all side by side in the kitchen and prep tables for ease to getting the entrees together. I put reach ins on both side of this counter to hold items that need to be kept cool until they are to be prepared at the time the ticket is called.

From experience, I wanted to make sure that the bakers had their own side of the kitchen. They will be baking breads and desserts fresh and in house so I wanted to make sure that they had their own prep table. I gave them their own food window, with a cooler attached for all cool items and garnishes. Since all bread and desserts will occur from scratch I needed to include a proof box, stand mixer, oven, and speed racks. Under the prep tables and along the walls will include all sorts of storage for all of the assorted tools and equipment they will need.

The hot food window will be right at the front of the kitchen and right next to the “out” door. This way the servers can enter through the “in” door to drop off dishes, and then walk by the hot window to get any food before they walk back out into the dining room. Right in front of the hot window will be a counter with storage underneath for dinner plates, B&B’s, and black serving trays. This makes it easy for whoever is the executive chef to grab a tray and have them lined up to go for the servers.

I placed hand sinks all over the kitchen in areas that I thought they would be most usable. I placed one by all of the exits and entrances, and one by all of the prepping tables. Large prepping sinks where also included in the design by the prepping tables. These are necessary in order to be able to thaw items or rinse off others.

In addition to all of the equipment that was provided in the layout, some other assorted small equipment will also be necessary. Large and small cutting boards of different colors for their different uses are also a necessity. Two different knife organizers will be appropriate in this kitchen. We will need butchering, chef, carving, and paring for most of the jobs needed done in the kitchen. A Robo Coupe or other type of food processor will be needed prep. For the soups, we already have the kettles, but an immersion blender could be useful for pureed soups. For the salad station, they will need of course a salad spinner and a blender for the in house made dressings. Lastly, all sorts of utensils will be necessary. For example, whisks, wooden spoons, medal spoons, tongs, etc. All of these items will house in the drawer attachments to the prepping tables.

Discussion Questions \(\PageIndex{2}\)

1. What factors of facility design does the menu directly affect?
2. Does the facility come first, or the menu? How should a restauranteur think about both elements?
3. Name the six elements that affect the successful capitalization of a foodservice facility.
4. What factors typically result in the selection of a ‘bad’ foodservice location?
5. What potential values does a restaurant location have?
6. When should the Department of Health and Fire Marshall first view a proposed lease site?
7. A prudent restauranteur considers the ‘location’ of a restaurant as the ‘connection’ between your target customer and your operating concept. Why is this true?
8. Name and discuss the two major considerations in deciding on an appropriate amount of space for a foodservice facility, which should be constant guides for decision-making.
9. What types of electrical connection does a restaurant require? How can you determine these connections?
10. Licenses and permits necessary to open and operate a restaurant will vary from one city or state to another. What agencies and respective departments are involved in the licensing and permit process?