Design is everything. Far from a bold statement, it becomes truer the deeper you delve into it. A good design, when it comes to kitchens, can make or break efficiency, can stall or inspire creativity and ultimately, can affect a hotel or outlet’s customer base and revenue.
Steve Jobs famously said: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
That means getting kitchen design right the first time is one of the most important aspects of your operation. If the design is right for the type of restaurant and cuisine, your kitchen will be instantly productive.
| Advertisement |
But designing a kitchen involves more than a few elements, from meeting the bottom line costs to pleasing the chef who will be running it, to ensuring that ventilation, stations, layout, heating and cooling and productivity are all considered.
And it’s not simply a one-kitchen-fits all exercise — certain chefs have certain demands — but more than that, as the practitioners of their craft, they know what’s needed in a kitchen far better than designers, owners, and even managers.
Bass Salah, general manager and head of the hospitality division for construction company ISG, says: “Chefs are very meticulous in the layout and detailing of the kitchen. They consider design from a very functional perspective, ensuring flow and efficiency of the kitchen spaces they work in.
“They add a lot of value by cramming a lot of equipment into small spaces. They understand very well the practicality of construction and the technical services that make the kitchens work.”
But designers and construction/fitout companies have a budget to meet, set by the building owners and operators, and often, the best design isn’t the cheapest. In the Middle East, with a low profit margin for construction and plenty of competition, and a centuries-old tradition of bartering, the lowest quote is often the one that wins the job.
Salah has seen more than his fair share of hotel kitchen construction and says there is always a challenge between FOH and BOH.
“Chefs always want more space, and restaurant managers want to give them less,” he says, “Mainly because the kitchens are not revenue-producing spaces and therefore the bigger the front of house, the more covers, the better the ROI. Striking a balance where everybody wins is the key challenge.”
Search our database of more than 2,700 industry companies
