Design a Small Restaurant Kitchen: Steps for a Smart Distribution
By acquiring a place to start a hospitality business, the kitchen space directly influences the possibilities and services provided. When designing the design of the kitchen in a small restaurant, it is important to invest in a good approach from the beginning, since an optimal use of the space will help the best quality and workflow.
Suppose it is decided to open a business in hospitality and it is known that the kitchen space will be reduced.
What steps should be taken to make the most of this situation? Well, the most important thing is to have a good business plan, that is, clear objectives. This raises the following points:
• The number of guests who want to serve.
• The menu (number of dishes to be included and type of cuisine).
Depending on these parameters, the kitchen will be considered, since it will define the machinery that is needed.
There will be a big difference between a kitchen designed to serve, for example, Japanese food for 10 people than one designed to provide Italian food for 20 people. Both the distribution and the necessary devices will be different.
Other points to consider in the design of a small space kitchen is its shape. To begin, we should know that a kitchen that is between 20 and 32 square feet is considered small, but it is not the same to have a square area (for example 10 × 10 feet) than an elongated (15 × 7 feet), more difficult of distributing.
We must also take into account all areas and their distribution. When designing, you have to do it thinking about the efficiency and logic with which the kitchen will work later. For example, something fundamental to consider is to avoid crossings, such as clean and dirty.
Finally, we must be aware of the limitations we can find when having a small kitchen. This factor can force us and restrict us to certain brands and devices, which offer specific dimensions or power, making the price of the machine more expensive.
Therefore, before starting the investment in a project of this type, it must be taken into account that more expensive devices may be needed to reach the same efficiency.
The ideal in a small kitchen is to design thinking of using the least possible number of people to perform a specific task, so it is important to choose versatile kitchen equipment, in the sense that it is feasible to perform several functions on the same equipment.
In kitchens of very small space it is very efficient to use the highest-quality equipment to minimize downtime. Greater use of technology (touch screens, programmable appliances) improves customer service and saves time.
Trash cans integrated into counters, use vertical spaces to place shelves, minimize the steps of finding supply using compact storage for individual areas, portable equipment combinations (steam/ovens; refrigerated space under the range) that are easy to service, with surfaces that are easy to clean, also is recommended.
In these cases, it is convenient to resort to specialists in the design of a small restaurant kitchen, as well as being advised by experts in industrial machinery.
They can help you choose those specific elements that fulfill all the functions, but that can be located taking advantage of more space, or that by their characteristics are more versatile.
As you can see, when talking about making the most of the space in the kitchen design in a small restaurant, the initial approach is the key to getting everything necessary for an adequate workspace that allows us to offer the ideal service that the business plan specifies.
