An empty restaurant space is filled with the dreams of the owner. They might envision the way that the place smells, where the restaurant supplies are going, even the faces of the servers. Before those dreams of furnishing that commercial kitchen with restaurant supplies becomes a reality, there must be extensive amounts of planning.
Yes, it’s possible to overplan, but a plan is always necessary before buying equipment. Convection ovens and other pieces of equipment aren’t bought lightly, as it generally runs into the thousands of dollars. Research has to be done.
List everything
Once the lease has been signed, the commercial kitchen is on a timer. It’s time to figure out just what’s needed. What type of oven? What type of plates? How about the tables? What is the minimum amount of restaurant supplies that can be bought and still have a running restaurant?
Map it out
Once everything has been listed, a place in the kitchen needs to be found for it. Think about where the walk-in cooler is going to be in relation to the dishwasher, in relation to the pasta machine. There are pieces which don’t have wheels, so they take some effort to move around once they've been placed.
Separate Between FOH and BOH
What pieces go into the front of the house and what go into the back of the house? How much of it has already been supplied by the previous owner and how much needs to be considered? This will help determine the costs of the restaurant from each angle.
Don’t Skimp on Quality
Buying restaurant supplies out of the back of a truck is frowned upon for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that there aren’t appropriate warranties to cover those supplies. More, though, skimping on that quality leads to breakdowns and other issues with the equipment much sooner than if it had been bought new.
Furnishing with the best restaurant supplies is the goal of any restaurant owner. It takes a little bit of planning, but once the planning has been done, the fun of purchasing can begin.
Special thanks go to Mark Ramsay on Flickr for the Creative Commons use of the picture.
