F & B : KITCHEN DESIGN
INTO THE
LIGHT
Today ’ s hotel kitchens are brighter , cleaner and more efficient than ever before .
by ANN BAGEL STORCK , MANAGING EDITOR
These days Rick Tramonto works in the most high-tech , state-of-the-art , often multimillion-dollar professional kitchens , but that wasn ’ t always his reality . Tramonto — who opened Restaurant R ’ evolution at The Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans last July with his fellow Executive Chef John Folse — easily recalls the early days of his 34-year kitchen career , when he spent countless hours in hotel kitchens he remembers as “ dungeons .”
“ The hotel kitchens I grew up in were dark , dingy , dirty and old ,” Tramonto says . “ Now they ’ re designing kitchens that have more energy . There is more light . They are designed in a way to keep them cleaner . They are designed to need less repair and maintenance . There is a long line of people trying to create better work environments .”
Yet hotel F & B outlets also must find every cost efficiency — which impacts kitchen design as well . “ Hotels are eager to evolve their F & B concepts and do it with a more intelligent application of resources ,” notes Patrick O ’ Hare , vice president of business development and partner at EDG Interior Architecture + Design , San Rafael , California . “ Kitchen design solutions with reduced space , more customized
Restaurant R ’ evolution at The Royal Sonesta Hotel New Orleans includes an expo kitchen that is part of the dining space and features a wood-burning oven , rotisserie and salumi station .
equipment and flexible operating models are replacing the multiple kitchens and large , inefficient kitchens of the past , even in large hotels .”
In the following pages , HOTELS presents kitchen design case studies ranging from small , specialized facilities to larger , multi-faceted venues in addition to perspectives on kitchen design from those who design the spaces as well as those who work there .
www . hotelsmag . com April 2013 HOTELS 47