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How to build your high-efficiency western restaurant
Are you worried about how to open a western restaurant that suits you? Don’t worry, our expert team will solve your questions from the types of western restaurants, the western restaurant kitchen layout, and the western restaurant kitchen equipment that you need. We will take you through the whole process of opening a western restaurant, providing you with one-stop service from design to installation.
Table of Contents
1. The types of western restaurants
A. French Western Restaurant: French restaurants are elegantly decorated, often using high-quality porcelain tableware, with a majority of steaks, the most famous being foie gras, baked snails and French baguettes, as well as some sauces, such as sturgeon caviar and foie gras. French restaurants also love shellfish and salmon. These dishes are prepared using equipment such as grills and ovens.
B. Italian Western Restaurant: Italian style restaurant where you can enjoy special mozzarella products, margarita pizza, macaroni and cheese, prosciutto and many chicken dishes, risotto and vegetable soup with many ingredients. Restaurants generally create a rich menu through pasta cookers, commercial griddles, pizza ovens and etc.
C. American style restaurants: American style restaurants like to use steak as the main course, supplemented by pies, mashed potatoes and shrimp and crab as small dishes, roasted vegetables will be served with honey or butter, American style restaurants also like vegetable salad and creamy gumbo, and oysters and tuna such seafood. The restaurant kitchen will use the grills, fryer and some burners.
2. How to layout western restaurant kitchen
The next will introduce the five most classic layouts of commercial kitchens, each of them has different advantages and applicability, of course, to choose according to the actual situation of the kitchen, and after enough understanding, you can also add some innovative ideas to it.
A. Assembly line layout
In this layout, ingredients are taken out, prepared and cooked in a complete assembly line, which is suitable for producing a large number of the same type of dishes repeatedly, focusing on efficiency and speed rather than quality of service.
B.Island platform type layout
In the middle of the kitchen set cooking area, surrounded by storage areas, preparation areas and cleaning areas, the overall formation of a circular layout, clear and clear partition, convenient for staff communication, suitable for the kitchen is square, large space of the restaurant, European restaurant kitchen very like this layout, cooking equipment is also often produced to facilitate the splicing combination of styles, making the height and appearance of the cooking island consistent, increasing the sense of design and beauty of the kitchen.
C. Regional layout
Separate areas are prepared for different types of dishes, with soups, fries and stir-fries in separate cooking areas, each of which can have a dedicated chef. This layout is more suitable for restaurants with large menus, where different dishes can be prepared at the same time.
D. Parallel layout
Along the two parallel walls of the jig placed commercial kitchen equipment, leaving a channel in the middle, suitable for large rectangular kitchen space, American-style kitchen like this simple and efficient layout, if the kitchen area is too small, it is best to place equipment along one wall, the other side of a simple shelf or wall-mounted display, otherwise the middle of the channel is likely to “poor traffic”.
E. Open layout
In this layout, the kitchen and dining room are not clearly separated, which allows customers to view the interior of the kitchen.This novel layout has gained popularity in recent years, with restaurants displaying interesting food preparation processes close to the dining area to enhance the customer experience.
3. A Complete Western Restaurant Kitchen Equipment List
According to the order of service provided by the kitchen, the western restaurant kitchen equipment is mainly divided into storage equipment, food processing equipment, cooking equipment and cleaning equipment.
A. Storage equipment
If your kitchen is not every morning to purchase fresh vegetables and meat, then you will certainly need storage equipment, general double-door freezer or horizontal freezer can basically meet the daily needs of the restaurant, more expensive seafood on the requirements of refrigeration will also be higher, the specific type and capacity of the freezer need to be based on your menu and daily needs to decide.
Commercial Freezer: mainly used to save beef and lamb and poultry, pay attention to raw and cooked food separate storage and regular defrosting. You can use the cooler to make small amounts of ice for bartending on the side, but if you need a large supply of ice quickly, you will need to consider an ice machine.
Freshness cabinets: There are air-cooled and direct-cooled types for short-term storage of cooked food, fresh meat, vegetables and yogurt. Horizontal freezers with glass doors can also be placed in the front room to hold and display vegetable salad portions, snacks or some sauces.
B. Food processing equipment
Washing, peeling and chopping vegetables, mixing and dividing dough, slicing and chopping meat – these are all tedious tasks. Purchasing some food processing equipment can be a good solution if you have two situations: firstly, your restaurant has a hot order and has to handle a large amount of ingredients every day, and secondly, you want the specifications of the ingredients to be standardized at the preliminary processing stage.
Vegetable cutter / meat cutter: orderly cutting vegetables and meat into various regular sizes and shapes, making the process fast and fun.
Blender: for whipping egg whites and cream, stirring fillings or dough, or if you don’t need to make a lot of bread, a small or medium-sized blender will meet your needs for pies, breads, mashed potatoes and handmade salad dressing.
Juicer: If you have several freshly squeezed juices on the menu, a juicer is a good choice, or if you need to use freshly squeezed juices to add flavor to some cocktail preparations.
C. Food cooking equipment
Cooking is a core part of the kitchen, and cooking equipment should be selected based on the categories on the menu. For example, if the menu does not have a very large supply of French fries and fried seafood, you can remove the fryer from the list. You can choose the necessary few items first, and then adjust them later based on meal sales.
Commercial Gas/induction stoves: Depending on local regulations and energy prices, you can choose between gas or electric stoves, which are indispensable cooking equipment in almost all kitchens and can be used for a variety of purposes, such as simmering sauces, making soups, and cooking meats and vegetables.
Commercial Ovens/Steam Ovens: Restaurants of all types have many baked goods that require ovens, pies, pizzas, French bread, or baking chicken, beef and seafood. Hot air convection steam ovens add steam replenishment compared to other regular ovens. One oven is sufficient for the vast majority of baking needs, but if you are looking for character and flavor, consider a kiln-style pizza oven as an additional option.
Commercial Pasta cookers: Many restaurants with pasta and macaroni on the menu have pasta cookers, which are more convenient than using regular ovens and pots and pans to cook pasta.
Commercial grills: Grills are widely used to make steak fry, grilled eggplant, fried eggs, or with spices to fry fresh fish, and some restaurants place them close to the dining area so customers can see the fun cooking process.
Commercial Fryer: Making fries, shrimp cakes, crab cakes and calamari can be used, mainly to make side dishes.
Coffee machine: Many restaurants offer drinks better than coffee, but there will be several classic coffees to choose from. If you need a fully functional machine that produces a strong coffee, an espresso machine is the best.
Ice maker/ice cream machine: French restaurants are more focused on serving different types of drinks. Generally speaking, if you have a water bar in your restaurant dedicated to serving alcoholic beverages, you will definitely need an ice machine because ice is mainly added to wine, drinks and coffee. Likewise, if many types of ice cream are not needed as a specialty, a small ice cream machine is sufficient.
D. Cleaning equipment
In addition to choosing a high quality detergent and a regular daily cleaning schedule, the following Western restaurant kitchen equipment can help your restaurant operate under safe and hygienic standards.
Commercial dishwasher: Efficient cleaning of used tableware, under-counter dishwashers are usually placed at the water bar in commercial restaurants to clean cups, while ordinary restaurants can basically meet their daily cleaning needs with one uncovered dishwasher.
Disinfection cabinet: the use of hot air circulation and ultraviolet light for disinfection, to ensure the clean use of tableware.
Range hood: Mainly used to maintain the kitchen environment while cooking and reduce grease and smoke, not only to protect the health of employees, but also to reduce grease and dirt attached to the machine and extend the life of the equipment.
4. Chefmax is your one stop western kitchen equipment supplier
With nearly 20 years of experience in product manufacturing and kitchen design, Chefmax offers a wide range of products, most of which have undergone rigorous CE and ETL testing to guarantee superior performance and safe operation, providing you with all the kitchen equipment you need for your commercial western restaurant. We specialize in the production and configuration of western restaurant kitchen equipment, providing consultation, free design drawings, fast production of customized products, real-time video guidance and excellent after-sales service to create your own efficient western restaurant. contact [email protected] now!