A current restaurant trend sweeping Australia and the world is changing from a closed-off kitchen to an open-plan one.
Many are attributing this to the fact that customers are being treated more and more to cooking shows on TV, showcasing what life is like behind the scenes. In fact, shows such as Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules can pull in millions of viewers in a single episode, according to TV Tonight’s ratings.
Are you thinking of upgrading your kitchen and looking for what is the next level? It might be time to invest in revamping your standard restaurant layout, bringing down the kitchen partition wall and exploring new options. Here are two tips on ways you can add this TV-like glamour to your business.
Layout, lighting and visual aesthetic all have a role to play in customer satisfaction.
Kitchen style
According to a study published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management, layout, lighting and visual aesthetic all have a role to play in customer satisfaction. For this reason, it’s important that your open-plan kitchen is stunning to look at, blending into your restaurant theme perfectly.
One way you could achieve this is by purchasing a new range of stylish catering equipment, such as that by Waldorf Bold. This brand combines the practicality of a fully functional kitchen with a sleek visual design, utilising vitreous enamel coatings (in your choice of three colours) to ensure surfaces are both hygienic and beautiful to look at.
This modular restaurant equipment can come packaged with commercial cooktops, deep fryers, grills, toasters, ovens, pasta cookers and more. Plus, it’s entirely customisable. Do you want a burner with a refrigeration unit beneath it for saving space? How about completing the look with a line of bench tops next to your fryers, allowing you to seamlessly transition from prep to cooking? This is all possible with Waldorf Bold.
At the heart or half-partitioned?
On a similar note, we should note that not all open-plan kitchens need to involve installing cooktops and fridges right at the heart of your dining area. Indeed, some restaurants are getting creative with the way a kitchen is walled off, in order to keep some semblance of privacy for the chefs while still allowing for customers to see in.
What do we mean by this? Catering Insights suggests that overhearing badmouthing from the chefs can lead to a negative impression on diners. So rather than remove the walls entirely, consider placing a crisp glass divider between the tables and kitchen area, to block out sound but still allow sight.
One restaurateur, Kerry Sear, took this a step further by turning his glass divider into a gently flowing waterfall, which suited the theme of his restaurant. Smaller portholes were put in for an undistorted view, but ultimately the effect was spectacular.
Allow yourself to be creative and break the boundaries of normalcy, and you might just find a unique selling point for your restaurant.
Will your new kitchen equipment make a bold statement?
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