Traditionally, these two halves of the restaurant coin have been designated as separate operations, divided by walls and unseen by the customers. However, newer trends in dining tear down the walls such that customers can see how the two halves work together to create the dining experience customers expect.
Making these changes to a restaurant may also require making changes to the kitchen equipment.
Small commercial kitchen equipment
To create the space that opens into the dining area, floorplans require some “shrink” in terms of kitchen equipment footprint. The key is to spec kitchen equipment that is not only small, but also does the heavy work of larger kitchen equipment.
One option is Alto-Shaam’s latest Converge® Multi-Cook Oven. This new piece of oven technology is more than just a commercial countertop oven. It has the capability to broil, steam, bake and air fry in up to three different independent chambers simultaneously.
Operators like PPX Hospitality Brands’ Chief Culinary Officer Matt King are faced with unique challenges with small sites, as he discovered when looking at airport locations for Legal Sea Foods and Smith & Wollensky.
“We brought Converge ovens in as a replacement for speed ovens, in which I wasn’t a fan of the quality,” King said. “We discovered Converge could feed 500 people in an hour and a half, which was really remarkable; it performed above our expectations.”
Ventless commercial kitchen equipment
As a solution to space challenges, operators are discovering ventless cooking equipment to free up footprint and save thousands on installation, operating and maintenance costs associated with traditional ventilation systems.
With added flexibility in terms of kitchen design, operators are able to place this equipment anywhere outside of a traditional kitchen hood—maximizing floor space while improving efficiency and workflow.
In addition to being compact and multi-functional, Converge is certified ventless, making it ideal to place on a counter for an open kitchen. Customers can watch as food is made while employees and chefs put food in and take it out to serve.
Managing menus
When it comes to the back-of-the-house, it’s ideal to have an oven management system that is seamless and programmable to achieve the greatest consistency no matter who is cooking.
Chefs and operators can create, manage and push recipes, regional menus, limited time offers and more using ChefLinc™. This cloud-based remote oven and cooking management system features an easy-to-use dashboard for operators to push and pull recipes, view oven status, collect and store data and receive detailed service diagnostics from anywhere they are. This reduces variables for error and ensures consistency in the kitchen and across multiple locations.
Compact, ventless equipment with power, performance and modern controls are the future of commercial kitchen designs. To learn more about Alto-Shaam’s innovative kitchen solutions, explore their products.
