# Kitchen Flow and Equipment questions (Crepe and Coffee Cafe)



## maddingthechef (Aug 16, 2015)

Hello Everyone,

Looking for advice on the flow of the kitchen and barista equipment in Crepe Cafe as title states. I'm in the process of designing out a Crepe/Coffee Cafè. The space I am working with is only 8ft wide in the kitchen (built out of shipping containers). Menu will be unique offering different choices and will expand as business progresses. I'm trying to keep simple but unique in the beginning not trying to over extend my capabilities or of my workers.

Menu

Sweet

Suzette 
Nutella Crepe
S`mores and Nutella Crepe 
Banana Foster's
Honey Mascarpone (or Ricotta) topped with Blueberry Sauce
Lemon Ricotta topped with Blueberry Sauce
Banana and Nutella
Chocolate Ganache & Strawberry

Savory

Breakfast
Eggs, Bacon, and Mayhaw jelly
Eggs, Chorizo, Smoked Gouda topped with Salsa and side of Pico
Poached Eggs, Skirt Steak, with Hollandaise 
Eggs, Smoked Sausage, and Smoked Cheddar
Eggs, Diced Potatoes, and choice of meat (Bacon, Sausage, Ham)
Grilled Peppers, Potatoes, and Smoked Gouda

Lunch and Dinner
Pizza Style (Pepperoni and Mozzarella) side of Marinara
BLT 
Beef or Chicken Fajita (Grilled Red and Green Peppers with Pico)
Skirt Steak, Spinach, Mushroom, with Balsamic Glaze
Chicken Carbonara with side Ceasar Salad
Smoked BBQ Brisket with side Potatoe Salad
Cajun (filled with boudin and topped with crawfish etouffee)
Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus and Smoked Cheddar
Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Crepe also there is a decent size Vietnamese community)

Menu is going to be changing as I debate on what to keep! not to keep, or add new items

Scroll down to see pic of design

Questions:

1. The flow is off and can't think of a appropriate flow. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

2. My equipment that I have is it too much for my operation? (Starting far left combi oven, 6 burner, griddle, char-broiler, double crepe griddle, cold topping station.)

Thank yall for any comments or suggestions.





  








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maddingthechef


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maddingthechef


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

I can't see the kitchen layout too well, but one thing that really worries me is the crepe grills

I hate them.

They are big suckers and take up a lot of counter space, you can only do one crepe at a time on them and the average time to complete a crepe is what? 7-9 minutes?

So with two crepe grills, at maximum capacity will yield a total of 15 orders per hour?  Do you see where I'm going with this?

The combi oven....  It's an expensive piece of equipment, where it really shines is rethermalizing  dressed plates, and roasting meats with very little weight loss.  If you don't need to do this, you don't really need a combi, a plain-Jane convection will do.

Hope this helps


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

You have your prep area and the dish pit in the same room and storage as well? 

You need to move the dish pit to the side so people don't have to turn the corner to get to the triple sink.

Next, 8 foot wide is enough for hot side on one wall and cold side on one wall.  You put the sandwich prep on the hot side as far from the sink as possible.  That will not work.

I would put the dish station on the outside wall, the drive through wall.  I would shorten the hotside wall, move the alto shaam to the prep area, move the dry storage door.  Move the sandwich prep and crepese to the other side of the line thus making that side the cold side.  Put reach in slider drawers underneath.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

What's the dumbwaiter/elevator for? 

26 and 27 are coffee grinder /knock boxes, correct? Why in two locations? 

     I could probably come up with more questions but since you are in the design phase I'll throw in an idea I heard about years ago.

      Using cardboard boxes and markers or paint, make mockups of your equipment. Find a large area where you can set them up as if they were the actual equipment so you can do a bit of a practice run to see how things work. No investment in actual equipment or installations costs.

     With a few friends or employees, you can have a cafe rehearsal. If it doesn't work, you can rearrange things easily enough or remove items as necessary. Using actual people in a rehearsal also helps understand if you have enough space for employee activity. 

Anyway, hope that helps.


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## chezpopp (Aug 8, 2015)

What is the crepe output with the crepe makers? The crepes are a main part of this setup but are you actually making them on the line to order. You might be better off moving the makers to the back prep table (20) free up valuable spce on your line for a small prep table or shared hot and cold plateing area. You can flash the crepes on the griddle if you have a prep cook dedicate some time to keeping the crepes stocked. Also the charbroiler grill is a bit much. Flat top is much more useful to my thinking with the menu and type of setup. If you 86 the charbroiler (which yes grill marks and char are great but really the griddle and pans on the range could cover everything) you could add some more plateing counter space or get another open cold bain marie like on the sandwich station and work your hot side items out of that. Cold insert in an open top set up make working a saute griddle hot side set up faster and easier to my mind. Usually on the opposite wall of the cooktops but in this case losing the char broiler and moving the crepe griddle frees up space. As i said open top refrigeration in inserts allows for easy access and more speed for your hot side cook. It also provides a little more work space to cut and or plate. It keeps more ingredients backed up in inserts in the low boy underneath. Just my initial thoughts. I would dedicat some time in the am to making lots of crepes possibly for the day. Lay them out in between deli sheets so they dont stick. Stuffed crepes can be popped in the combi or reheated breifly on the griddle with some clarified butter.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

Where is your plate setup area and your pass?


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## maddingthechef (Aug 16, 2015)

@foodpump

I think I do need a 2nd crepe griddle but like you mentioned is that they are cumbersome. As far as as the how long to make just the crepe it self doesn't take long 2 min. (I could be cooking them wrong and I am not a chef but an enthusiast) 7 to 9 min what would make it that long to complete? After reading around on the forum and other information gas griddles is the direction I leaning top get the top back to temp quicker. My only thought on the combi oven is mostly cooking large quantities of meats in it and some baking early in the morning. My understanding of a combi is they are a cross between sous vide and a conventional oven. The aspect of those two mixed is what is appealing. The lack of cooking info (how to cook meats time? Degree? Settings?) is making me hesitate to go this direction. The char-broiler is something the more I think about it I think I really don't need.

@kuan
The storage area in the back is actually the walk in refer/freezer. Move the 3 compartment sink to the drive thru wall move combi next to dishwasher? I don't know if I will be able to take anymore portion of the wall out. I will have two containers on top that'll sit right above that area. Maybe if I put support columns in if the wall is reduced.

@chefwriter
I didn't put the full design up but there will be an up stairs that leads to two more containers that are a/c cooled. While the rest will be out side seating. Since the stairs will be outside the building I thought a dumb waiter would be a easy solution to get food upstairs. I love the idea of making a mock space of everything. Definitely going to explore that more. The idea between the two espresso setups is one for drive thru and other for inside orders. Coffee is probably the only thing I'll allow through the drive thru besides some pastries.


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

chezpopp said:


> If you 86 the charbroiler (which yes grill marks and char are great but really the griddle and pans on the range could cover everything) you could add some more plateing counter space or get another open cold bain marie like on the sandwich station and work your hot side items out of that.


I don't know, I like the option of having a charbroiler, although I would probably switch the position it with the griddle. Charbroiler, if on, can double as a steam table/ bain marie or staging area or place to keep saute pans hot and at the ready or even as another griddle with a topper or cast iron pans. Charbroiler, if off, can become plate setup area or cold bain marie or staging area.


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## chefwriter (Oct 31, 2012)

I'm not a fan of the two coffee makers/knockboxes. You would not plan to have two of everything else. (except for the crepe grills because it is a crepe place). If you buy a commercial level coffee machine it should produce plenty fast enough. Two set ups kills space that could be better utilized. 

The other posters have made some great observations about the other arrangements. I'm glad you like the mock up idea because I think that in your case it is very appropriate and could save you some serious heartache down the road. After a closer look at the design, I'd agree with chezpopp that more table top/ plating area is important and an open top frig unit for the hot cook would be very helpful.  If i understand what I'm looking at correctly, all the equipment is jammed cheek by jowl and there is no room to set the food down or work on the food just before or after cooking. 

     Should you do the mockup, I'll suggest you include some physical representation of the food as well so you can see how it will actually play out. Go through every single motion you would make with the food to insure you are mimicking the actual experience. From what I can see, should the hot cook have a need to use a knife for any reason or have any reason to set a piece of food down, he's out of luck.


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## alyshatucker (Sep 3, 2015)

I want to apologize because i HATE to be this person, but ive been trying desperately to create my own post and i just can not figure it out.

If anybody can help me i would really appreciate it!

Again, i am so sorry i really hate doing this but i really cant figure it out lol.


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## maddingthechef (Aug 16, 2015)

I want to thank each one of you for taking time and responding to the post. Yall bring up many valid points to think on ways to maximize my space and things that need to be addressed like plating/staging area. Next week I'll update the thread with a new back of the house layout to get opinions the flow.


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