[cerupert]

I am currently in the planning stages of opening a kitchen down the road. I have my ideas of how I would like a kitchen designed but was looking for other suggestions. In the kitchens you have worked in or are working in what is one of the favorite features you have worked with or one thing you would never do again and dont like. Thanks for the input.
C

[tessa]

coming from the perspective of a short chef maybe dont have things up too high , its a real pain not to be able to look in to the salamandar because its above your head

[foodpump]

The one word that separates a commercial kitchen from a home kitchen is infrastructure...

Before you start looking at smaller features of a commercial kitchen, you have to look at the big features. A 500 ccc engine could fit into a Cadillac, but it wouldn't work very well. The kitchen size is based on the size of a dining room, the layout and equipment is based on what the kitchen sells.

The first and most important thing you'll need is a ventilation system. It's not just a s/s box with some filters hanging above the stove. In order to pass local fire codes, the system has to be designed by a mechanical engineer, and it's the shaft or ductwork that will cost anywhere from $2,000 for a very simple operation to over $40,000 for an elaborate one. Then you need the fans themselves, one for intake, one for exhaust, (if you only had an exhaust fan, what would you breathe?) and an a/c unit for tempered make up air. Then the hood itself, then the fire suppression system (or Ansul sysem )

Then there's the plumbing: Grease trap(most municipalities demand a minimum of 55 gal. size) hot water heaters, sinks, floor drains, drains for a/c units/ ice machines, etc.

If you have gas, you still need a minimum of a 200 amp 3 phase service.


That's the big stuff, pay very close attention to it, once the money's spent, it'll cost waaaay more to fix if you decide to re-locate something.

Once you've got the big stuff out of the way, the smaller details take care of themselves....

[Kona]

A couple of things that I love is a water faucet by my stove. a small freezer on my line.

[cerupert]

Thanks foodpump for the info but those things are standard in a kitchen. Kona thanks for your response thats kind of the things im looking for. Just little details that are overlooked or cant be applied to a already existing kitchen.

[cheflayne]

A 3 foot flexible line, shoulder height spigot on the line for filling stock pots, pasta pots, etc.

Power outlets on the line.

[the_seraphim]

i used to have a catering style instant boiling water tap (mostly ended up being used for coffee... v important....) but its handy to fill a pot with hot water, saves time waiting for it to get hot on the stove

[adamm]

A hose/hookup for a hose so when cleaning the hood all you have to do is hit them with degreaser and hose them off.

[cheflayne]

Floor drains and all equipment on casters with enough flex line for gas lines that all equipment can be pulled out easily and safely for steam cleaning.

[Sleepy_Dragon]

Doors to lowboys open in the right direction. And by right, I mean according to where the cooks actually work, so they can reach into them without needing to reach over the door.

Especially critical if two cooks work shoulder to shoulder sharing the one lowboy between them.

Ease of dirty pan collection and restocking by dish crew.

Ease of assembly and taking apart for deep cleaning.

Repair people who actually fix the wangdang problem with the equipment, rather than just showing up, having a look, then disappearing and not coming back, but you still get stuck with a big stoopit bill. But I suppose that gets into fantasyland wishful thinking.

[Psycho Chef]

handwash sinks placed where they will be used, not just crammed in the plan somewhere because the code says so. Already mentioned but important enough to be mentioned again are wheels on the equiptment and water to the stove(preferably on the opposite end as the fryer). Enough under shelf warmers to keep food in the window hot as well as plates waiting to be used hot. Rolling racks that hold full sheet pans are great space savers, leave some room for them.