Starting A commercial kitchen

[ButlerHoosierChef]

So I am looking for some advice from you savants in the commercial kitchen arena. I am starting a warming kitchen with the hopes to turn it into a catering kitchen at a later date. We are starting a wedding venue and have a commercial kitchen area on the property. We need to get appliances though. So I am wondering what would I need for a warming kitchen for other caterers to come in first and second what items could I possibly get for future catering kitchen. What are good brands for commercial equipment? Also should I be looking at used equipment for some things? Should I just lease everything? Also how should I lay out a kitchen so that it flows? Any and all help would be amazing. This is my first time into laying out my own commercial kitchen. Thank you in advance for any and all advice. The only area I have under control is my kitchen knife and board. Haha.

[Cutuu]

For me personally creating a kitchen. I imagine working in it. I think about all the things i would do and then i start to imagine how to do it. Then it starts to become clearer of what equipment you need. I would make a list of all the functions you need to do.

[Nmiller21k]

Flow is extremely important.
Especially from loading area to cooking to prep to cooking area
Imagine how you’re going to have deliveries made.
Where they go where you have to walk etc

[salemj]

Nick's point is so key...

I'm not a pro, but my best friend's family owned a catering and banquet business that I worked for. I remember that, especially with catering, you need a very convenient cleaning and sink set-up. The magnitude of the rush work is actually clean-up, not prep. In addition to industrial washers at counter-level (slide-trays for glasses especially), the food side always had multiple deep sinks to vary between soak, wash, and sanitize. These kinds of things can take up a lot of space. And oddly enough, this is vital for "flow": you need front-end flow that allows for the collection, placement, cleaning, and re-storage of hundreds of dishes during the duration of events, to be done before the night is over. So the placement and flow needs to prioritized, not just shoved in the back corner or out of the way.

Whereas you can do prep in stages, ahead of time, and/or take in food delivery prepped elsewhere, it is much harder (and messier) to deal with dishes at any moment except while they are coming in!

Needless to say, this is also where you can save real money: you are likely to hire help for these tasks, so the more quickly and efficiently they can be done, the fewer hours you are paying someone to do them night after night after night. The same is not necessarily true for food, which often takes a certain amount of time no matter what you do (while rising, cooking, proofing, simmering, marinading), during which the staff can handle other tasks, so while efficiency is very important, it may actually be less-important than clean-up (in the same way that I and others have struggled way more to keep small kitchens clean during big meals that I have to cook lots of food in them!).

[LaVieestBelle]

At the risk of sounding very naive and suggesting something you may already know far better than me (in which case, excuse me!) I would pay attention to your state regulations as I spent and acquired and installed.

I am not a professional chef and never set up a kitchen. Nick and Joe made awesome points and i have nothing to add about flow. But I did have to acquire a food safety certification and I was fascinated by the variances in local regulations affecting equipment standards. Oops--were the food storage shelves a certain number of inches off the ground? Um, did we have a designated mop/service sink? There were enough regulatory standards that had an impact on the choice and even the installation of equipment that I thought I would add a word.

Enjoy the project--it sounds awesome!

[ButlerHoosierChef]

Thank you guys. So I will take pictures later and show you exactly where everything is. There are connections already there for me to hookup into just have to get the equipment. Also any and all help is welcomed because I am just starting to step into this arena. I will definitely check out local ordinances.

[Nmiller21k]

Buy quality if you can. Especially ranges and ovens they will be the backbone.

Tilt skillets are amazing, steam jackets kettles are awesome for stocks or soups en masse

[gladius]

With many restaurants that have or are going out of business, consider used purchases. You could save allot or perhaps obtain higher quality than you have budget for new.

[jmcnelly85]

Combi ovens by alto shaam and rationale are worth every penny and can pump out a shocking amount of food. How many person events are we talking about? The considerations for 100 people and 1000 people can be different. I like flexibility. Speed racks that can easily go from filling your sheet pans in the prep area to efficiently moving them to an oven to in the cooler can save on a lot of back and forth and back and forth.

Picture the whole process from A-Z. Prepped food is starting in the cooler to get heated in this oven to get held in an alto shaam to getting plated to put the door and on the table. I like assembly circles in this context, starting with one person surrounded by counted plates and possibly a starch that starts the process, passes it to a person with some veg, passes to the meat guy, and finished with a sauce/towel finisher. Are servers taking trays or filling rolling warmers to get moved off yonder and how much moving space is there between A-B... how to best keep the foods hot and everything flowing all at the same rhythm will get ironed out as long as you don’t anchor yourself to the rough draft. Things on wheels or at least light enough for 1-2 people to move will help optimize as you go. A lot of things will be locked in place depending on the hoods, everything else shouldn’t be locked down until your space and crew is finding that next gear.

[Nmiller21k]

If you’re doing large events
Get a conveyor belt.
We had one at the greenbrier
5 guys could plate 500 plates in 20 minutes going into alto sham

[ButlerHoosierChef]

So we are looking at starting with a warming kitchen for other caterers to come in but want to be able to start doing our own catering after a little while once we get the venue stabilized. We will be hosting weddings from 5 up to 250. We will have 2 different options. Either the barn or the tea room. The barn we will have to roll food to it. It will be a good distance 500 to 600 feet. The tea room will be just like a normal restaurant. I'll post some pictures this evening to give you all a better perspective on what is going on here. Thank you.

[bruin]

I’m sure you’ll get some expert advise here as well, but you should consider consulting with a professional about the layout of your kitchen. These things get complicated and nuanced really quickly and someone with experience doing this will catch a lot of surprisingly impactful small details you’re more likely to miss on your own. In my experience even some of the most experienced restaurateurs and chefs do this.

[salemj]

So we are looking at starting with a warming kitchen for other caterers to come in but want to be able to start doing our own catering after a little while once we get the venue stabilized. We will be hosting weddings from 5 up to 250. We will have 2 different options. Either the barn or the tea room. The barn we will have to roll food to it. It will be a good distance 500 to 600 feet. The tea room will be just like a normal restaurant. I'll post some pictures this evening to give you all a better perspective on what is going on here. Thank you.

The others above made me realize: are you planning on plating, or on buffet style? I feel like you're probably planning one or the other, and it can make a big difference, no? I (wrongly) assumed that your emphasis on outsiders coming in and warming was that it would be a buffet setup for guests, but I realize now that was a stupid assumption. I can see how your kitchen setup would have to be far more advanced if it is not a buffet set-up in the hall (as would transporting under the circumstances you describe).

[ButlerHoosierChef]

Here are a couple of pictures to begin with.

[ButlerHoosierChef]

Now a couple more.

[ButlerHoosierChef]

There is also a cleaning station on the other side for the mops and stuff.

[Nmiller21k]

Blueprints work better.
They give scale for planning

[ButlerHoosierChef]

Yea I wish I had those. The woman I bought this property from was well into her 80s and never drew up any blue prints. They just slid this restaurant under the radar. So I am starting from scratch. Lucky me! Best I can do is take measurements of the room and start planning from there. Sorry I am being very ignorant about all of this. Thank you all for your patience.

[jmcnelly85]

Us foods and other food distributors often provide consultant services for the planning stages of kitchen design. Find someone versed in the local regulations of what’s needed for ventilation, drainage, electric, egress... these things can vary wildly from state to state and (at least in my state) county to county. When installing hoods, aim on the “more than you think” side in case expansion happens. It’s easier to add more into something originally too big than to add on to something designed to be just right.

[atang]

Congrats!
Terrific advise here.
Some used equipment can be worthwhile. Try estate auctions or restaurant closings to get things like food containers, kitchen utensils, tables, shelves, things that dont really break and imo are too expensive buying new.
Some equipment should desire to be new like stove, ovens, combi (cannot say enough about rational. Amazing equipment), probably fryers, even dishwasher racks. Things that are in direct contact and view of your clients/guests.
A used floor standing mixer may be worthwhile. Most kitchens I’ve seen acquire them used.

Whatever equipment you go with, make sure you have enough electrical current to handle the maximum demand the chosen equipment may require. Better to get any electrical work done before dealing with a headache like breakers tripping during critical moments.

I love the rolling shelving designs. A great space saver.

Not sure if you would need a walk-in cooler for beverages, kegs, cold food items like salad, cakes, and other temperature sensitive items. There’s so many different types of cooler designs both walk-in and reach-in. You may have to calculate your cost benefit on that one.

Possibly hire a consultant? Personally I would avoid a distributor. You’ll be pitched all sorts of stuff you may not necessarily need. Maybe find someone with commercial kitchen/restaurant/hotel hospitality design experience; could be a relief from attempting to do it all yourself.
Good luck!