garnersfse

If a commercial kitchen needs to be designed it is best to leave it to a design company. Once you have engaged a reputable company the first thing that will happen is that a designer will visit your premises to assess space and possibilities.

Commercial kitchen designers do not do everything themselves. They need input from the restaurateur and the chef who has to work in the kitchen to come up with the perfect design for the restaurant’s needs.

Once this has been done the designer will work out space and will be able to work out roughly how much the project is going to cost. At this stage a vague design idea will also emerge.

You need to realise that perhaps not all your ideas can be incorporated as when a design becomes clear it may be that all that you wanted can simply not fit in the space allocated.

We have just had our house rewired and installed more power points and they are still not adequate. Restaurant owners often underestimate how many of these are required in a commercial kitchen. There are the refrigeration units, cookers, electrical appliances, meat slicers to name but a few.

Ventilation is also an integral part of kitchen design. Kitchen smells that are often oily need to be extracted so that a greasy film does not cover the kitchen area and the diners are not engulfed in kitchen smells. These units use a high wattage too.

As a restaurant owner and perhaps a property developer, sight of a good working kitchen and a return on investment must not be overlooked. If you want to establish a top of the range restaurant, sometimes the return of investment gets in the way.

Everyone has to work to a budget, but for your kitchen to work properly, you cannot skimp on leaving details out. You may have to make savings elsewhere.

One important aspect is Hygiene legislation. Hygiene has improved over the years because there are strict laws in this respect. There are now work surfaces and wall coverings available that are easy to clean.