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FRESHII - BACK OF THE HOUSE
Freshii is a restaurant on the University of Kentucky’s campus that focuses on providing student with a healthy dining option. It also employs several individuals with cognitive disabilities such as autism. Having the chance to observe the back of the house operations of this restaurant provided a lot of insight that might be helpful for this project.
One of the first things I noticed was a board hanging on the wall that delegated tasks to the employees. This made it simple for workers to see what tasks needed to be completed and noted what special events were coming up. Another thing that stood out to me was the open shelving for dry goods. Although there was a lot of storage with clear labeling, there was still much more space needed to store things properly. There were many things like bottled drinks that had to sit on the floor, blocking the kitchen doors.
Another important thing that I noted was that every employee had his or her own station. This allowed them to form a routine and get familiar with their surroundings without a lot of distractions. The stations were facing the walls and had hand-washing sinks
right next to them. These stations very large and had a lot of surface area to work on. However, there was not a lot of surface area to set dirty and clean dishes on. This seemed to be a much needed addition to the kitchen/food prep area. Although the space was small, the square footage was definitely used in a practical way.
RESTAURANT SUPPLY HOUSE - C WORTH
Observing a restaurant supply house helped to create a practical idea of what restaurant design entails. This visit not only showed what important pieces of equipment should be considered for the design, but also helped to create a mental image of how the equipment should be arranged.
After looking at an example AutoCAD file, it became very clear that laying out a restaurant kitchen takes a lot of attention to details and planning ahead. The quantity and type of food that will be served within a restaurant significantly determines the square footage and storage space a kitchen will need. Things like how much ice a restaurant needs to provide and how big the walk in fridge should be are important factors that should not be overlooked. After talking with an
C Worth employee about the potential menu, it was determined that the kitchen would need to be approximately 1,500 square feet with a 10’ by 15’ walk in fridge.
Equipment such as drain boards, mop sinks, exhaust hoods, single bowl sinks, 3 compartment sinks, and hand sinks are important things to consider when laying out a kitchen and food prep’s floor plan. There must also be separate areas for the clean and dirty dishes that do not overlap so that there is no cross contamination.
It was also brought up during this supply house visit that it is important to consider the amount of steps employees have to take to get front the front of the house to the back of the house. Things should be laid out so that workers can get to things quickly and efficiently without wasting too much time and energy.
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