We have recently had cause to plan a complete re-lay of one of our kitchens. For those who are interested, it all comes down to the extraction flow rates. We have some of the most crucial equipment, like the chargrill, currently operating under the slowest flow rate in the kitchen (one cubic metre per second). We need to relocate it to an area where the flow rate is 2.5 metres per second.
And, of course, whenever there is a project like this underway, there is a real opportunity to make wider improvements to the kitchen, which is exactly what we intend to do. It has been a long time since I worked with Deterministics, a company that measures everything to death, focusing on process control, productivity, operations, design engineering and analytics for the restaurant industry. For me, the detail was not always the most useful, but the process was, and still is. In fact, we are using the process to drive maximum productivity in the kitchen. It is a win-win, as it also makes life easier for our kitchen team.
Optimising Kitchen & Fridge Layouts
At the moment, we have ended up feeling a bit like a Blue Peter set rather than a restaurant business. But it is really good. We have taken every session, every style of food and every number of staff on shift and mapped out exactly where they have to go to complete their tasks. We have tried to minimise walking where there are few chefs and given each team member the right workspace when we are at maximum. Not only does this structure force the kit to go in the right place, but it also forces the fridge layouts to be incredibly well thought through, which was previously an issue in our business.
Fridge layouts are the most poorly executed areas for us – my big frustrations stem from there being nothing in a line fridge, or raw items being there. It is also difficult when each chef lays out their section differently and spends half an hour relaying their section because that is how they prefer to work. We are aiming to eliminate all these items in our new kitchen.
Holding Ovens and Prep Space
We are also investing in a large hot holding oven, to both drive capacity from our chefs and, in truth, to drive quality where they have developed substandard workarounds. I think hot hold ovens, if used well, make such a difference to speed, with only marginal drops in quality. But beware the chef cooking everything off at ten and chucking it in the hot hold!
Optimising prep space has been another key focus for us when planning the kitchen. We have decided to build in dedicated prep areas so that chefs can drop off the line when it is not too busy and crack on with some prep, and then step back on the line when a ticket comes in. With the new wage rates coming in, we must start moving to this model to drive efficiencies where we can.
The final area we have looked at is a drop off space for pot wash. The reality is, we cannot justify having a pot wash when it is quiet, so we need to have the capability to let the plates pile up to a certain point.
Final Thoughts
There really is a lot to think about when it comes to kitchen design, and I think getting it right is a real skill. Each time a menu changes, it has an effect on how the kitchen is laid out and functions. If we are not careful, a really well thought out kitchen evolves into a poorly laid out, or poorly managed kitchen.
I still have the image in my head of a really big kitchen, with the pass at one end of the line and the fryers at the other end. Think about the poor chef, who either has to work up and down the line to make a portion of chips, or better yet, think of the poor customer who has to eat a portion of chips that has been held with ten others under the lights to sweat. When we do, we realise how important kitchen details are.
It is such a challenge to keep up to date with kitchens, but it is one of the many challenges that is worth the investment. The extract issue may have forced us to adjust, but the process will now add loads of value to the quality and efficiency of our business.
