July 2016 – Foodservice.me

Maintenance is being treated as more than an afterthought in today’s restaurants, especially the big chains, and that’s a good thing. The well-maintained restaurant is seen by all as a cleaner, safer place to eat and work.

Here is a Top 10 List to get you on your way to having a properly maintained kitchen:

Read the warranty information supplied with each piece of new equipment to learn what the manufacturer recommends.
Put all literature supplied in a three-ring binder.
Assign the binder to managers and require new managers to review it.
Prepare a one-page maintenance sheet and post it where it will be seen.
List appropriate clean dates and a box to initial and date when cleaning is completed.
Insist that managers pay attention to maintenance schedules.
Post a list of local service agencies, their phone numbers, and which brands they cover.
Upon start-up of a new facility, place a list in the front of the binder containing make, model, serial number and date, along with the service and warranty period for each piece of equipment.
Set up service, cleaning, and inspection programs for all operational equipment with servicing agents.
Set up a regular exhaust hood and duct cleaning program to prevent fires.

It is critical to get staff members involved in your company’s efforts to care for the equipment.

Here are just a few ideas:

Reduce the damage caused by carelessness, abusive behavior, and vandalism by holding the staff accountable for the condition of the equipment when they complete a work shift.
Eliminate dents and gashes caused by carts and mobile equipment by providing adequate clearance around equipment. It’s not smart design to have people transporting items through what seems like a maze.
Protect equipment with rails, guards, and bumpers, which are offered as accessories, for both fixed and mobile appliances.
Catch little problems before they turn into big ones, with a weekly or monthly check of all kitchen workstations. Look for missing screws, damaged or worn wires and cords, bent panels or hinges. Get them corrected promptly.
Make your staff aware of what maintenance costs the restaurant. Make maintenance the topic of some staff meetings, in addition to training sessions. Solicit opinions from the staff about improvements that could be made.
Make an effort to get “clean” utilities—that is, do everything you can to protect equipment from power spikes with surge suppressors; treat or filter incoming water and air.

Source:
Katsigris, Costas, and Chris Thomas. Design and Equipment for Restaurants and Foodservice: A Management View. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. Print.
George Zawacki, senior associate, Cini-Little International, Inc. First appeared in Equipment Solutions, a publication of Talcott Communications Corp., Chicago, Illinois (March 2004).

Source: BUILT.: Tuning Up Nashville’s Music City Center — Foodable Web TV Network

Can you picture a massive building with organic lines and curves that flow like the shapes of Nashville’s rolling hills or the Music City’s melodic sounds? With ceilings that mimic the patterns and structure of grand piano keys? Or rooms with walls that bend, filled with acoustics that make you feel as if you’re standing inside of a mandolin or guitar?

The movement and fluidity of music itself was the design inspiration for the Music City Center. This center takes on the idea of a city’s brand identity to a whole new level. And at 300,000 square feet of exhibit hall space, 60,000 square feet of ballroom space, and 1.2 million square feet of space in total, this convention center is music to any event director’s ears. The center was needed to bring new life and business into Nashville, and needed to expand in the city’s downtown urban setting, according to Charles Starks, the complex’s president and CEO. He wanted the center to look like nowhere else in the world.

How did this design come to life? Through intense and creative collaboration. In this episode of “BUILT.,” in partnership with FCSI The Americas, watch to see how FCSI consultant Michael Pantano of Culinary Advisors, tvsdesign, and the visionaries behind the Music City Center worked in harmony to turn this building into the pinnacle of flexibility, sustainability, and foodservice excellence.

The Challenge and Design

As the firm that led design for four out of five of the nation’s largest convention centers and for about 80 projects around the world, it’s no doubt tvsdesign knows their stuff. So, what are the most important aspects of a successful space? Functionality and foodservice, according to Rob Svedberg, principal of tvsdesign.

“One of the most important things that the customers respond to is the quality of foodservice, the range of the food offerings, and how well it’s presented and prepared,” Svedberg said.

This is where FCSI consultant Michael Pantano stepped in.

“I think it’s critically important that every kitchen [has] a professional designer involved. In most cases, I’d like to say that’s an FCSI consultant, because to achieve professional status, we had to demonstrate our competence and our body of knowledge, and our understanding of the entire process,” Pantano said.

One element that the designers of the Music City Center emphasized was the need for bright lighting. Pantano also took that to the kitchen, because as he said, chefs and cooks are people, too, and deserve to be proud of their workspace and equipment.

“Most kitchens are down in the bowels of a building some place because wherever daylight exists is premium space, so we worked very hard to keep things low to allow all of the daylight to come in. Extraordinarily uncommon, but very beneficial,” he said. “Foodservice really is throughout the building, woven into the very fabric of the building.”

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In terms of functionality, Pantano always thinks like a chef. Aware that only 25 percent of a kitchen needs to be in fixed positions, whether due to the cooking line or exhaust hoods, he was able to make everything else mobile. Just as the entire convention center was flexible and fluid — without fixed concession stands or fixed dining areas so that the space could be reshaped — the kitchen could move with the needs of clients, too, able to fluctuate from serving six to six thousand.

“Our food sales have over doubled what we had projected initially and we’ve become known in Nashville as a place to go to for food. Not the convention center, but a place to go to for food,” Starks said.

The Future Through Sustainability

The beautiful architecture and foodservice aren’t the only things that set this design paragon apart from the rest. This space is also sustainable.

Above it lies a 4-acre green roof, the largest one in the Southeast, growing 14 types of vegetation. The center also has a solar farm and honey bees on site for the kitchens. The staff also keeps close relations with local farmers to serve food with a farm-to-table feel. The Music City Center also has a 360,000-gallon rainwater storage system that captures rainfall and utilizes it, not only to irrigate its plants and landscaping, but also to flush their sewage system. That has led to 54 percent saving in the building’s water usage in three years.

Watch the full episode now, and as Pantano states, discover how the Music City Center speaks for itself.