GETTING ADVICE ON KITCHEN DESIGN

Electronic communications in general and the Internet in particular are double-edged swords, as the news media have shown lately. You can get bamboozled in a hurry, you can get fake information, and in the blink of an eye you can send pictures of yourself that you shouldn’t have sent.

But one very good thing is LinkedIn, and our group at inyurl.com/FERonLinkedIn has been bustling lately.

A quick look at the discussion page shows running comments on the implications of lab-grown meat, energy- and water-saving tips and possible sources for a smokeless barbecue cooker, among other things. Some surprisingly thoughtful comments are posted out there, by a surprisingly thoughtful group of 700-plus group members.

And recently, one operator posted an interesting question: Can anyone recommend any good books on commercial kitchen layout and space planning? Within two days or so, a dozen posts had gone up. (Well, nine if you subtract the three that came from Robin and me.) It was fun to see how people really can help each other out quickly.

A couple of people highly recommended the Certified Food Service Professional program’s CFSP Study Guide at nafem.org.

One foodservice facilities design consultant who taught the subject for nine years at San Francisco State University recommended Design and Equipment for Restaurants and Foodservice by Katsigris and Thomas. The publisher is John Wiley & Sons.

“One of my favorites is Manual of Equipment and Design for the Food Service Industry, by Stevens and Scriven,” another consultant suggested. “Another good one is Design and Layout of Foodservice Facilities by Birchfield and Sparrowe.”

A group member added this: “Taught an upper division class in the Hospitality Management program at the University of North Texas in fall 2010 using the Katsigris and Thomas text (3rd ed.) Great for classroom and initial planning stages,” he said. But then he went on to agree with another facilities designer who urged caution about going it alone. “Seek out a professional facilities designer,” he said. There are “way too many nuances (and traps) to try to accomplish this without professional input.”

Also mentioned was a book called Professional Kitchens, Planning, Design, Equipment, published by the Foodservice Consultants Society Int’l. “It was authored by several of the best consultants in the world including Frank Wagner, Peter Neumann, Fritz Lemme and Manfred Rohatsch,” said the FCSI member who suggested it. “This book kicks it up a notch and is the best I’ve ever come across. A great buy. I keep a couple of copies in our office. (ISBN 978-3-345-00908-2).”

Do you have any suggestions? If so, go out to LinkedIn and let us know. Or, for that matter, if you have anything else on your mind, head out to our LinkedIn group and begin a discussion. If you’re not already a member, you can join at the tinyurl address above or on our website at fermag.com.

We’d love for all of you to network. That’s what the group is for.

Chief Editor
bward@fermag.com

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