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Server access to the kitchen

Discussion in 'Professional Chefs' started by mrchris, Apr 28, 2010.

  1. Apr 28, 2010 #1
    mrchris

    mrchris

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    I'm being hired to manage the kitchen of a new restaurant and one of the issues(in my mind) that has come up with the restaurant design(being built from the ground up) is the access to the kitchen.  It's an 8 foot hallway that is 3'11" wide.  Coming out of the kitchen down this hallway you must turn a blind corner at the end to enter the bar area which is connected to the dining area.  That door is 4 feet wide.  I've told him this alley is too narrow and that the servers should have double doors.  Am I in the wrong?  He says it's the best he can do because to widen it would affect the bathroom area.
     
  3. Apr 30, 2010 #2
    kuan

    kuan Moderator Staff Member

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    Why even have a door? I'd just take it out.
     
  4. Apr 30, 2010 #3
    titomike

    titomike

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    Mirror for the blind corner...
    Batwing doors?
     
  5. Apr 30, 2010 #4
    mrchris

    mrchris

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    What's a batwing door?  
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2010
  6. Apr 30, 2010 #5
    foodpump

    foodpump

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    As someone who has a brother and his wife both registered architects, I have to say from experience they don't belong in designing a kitchen--dining room, kitchen NO.

    Whatchaneed is a cold window, a hot window and a pass for dirty dishes.  Server access is great if you can wrangle it, but I've worked in many kitchens that were located in a basement and food/dishes were transported via elevator, or with pass-thru windows.

    The best piece of advice I can give you is this:

    Make a scale drawing of the space you are alloted, say 1" to 1' include windows, pillars/posts, doors etc., then make scaled pieces of paper furniture (range, fryer, hood, walk-in, etc) as well as pieces of paper people (figure on 36" for a typical worker.)  Don't forget to add the swing doors on fridges, doors, etc.

    Now you get yourself a beer or two and play with that and see what works best......
     
  7. Apr 30, 2010 #6
    kuan

    kuan Moderator Staff Member

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    I second that.  Make sure you have plenty of room behind the swing doors.
     
  8. Apr 30, 2010 #7
    kyheirloomer

    kyheirloomer

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    Hey, FoodPump, how many people do you know that are 36 feet? You did say to scale it 1"=1'. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/surprised.gif
     
  9. May 1, 2010 #8
    gypsy2727

    gypsy2727

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    You don't have to be an Architect to know there are "Code Violations" going on here