2018 Design Project of the Year, FE&S

Food arrives at a loading dock that Caviar & Bananas shares with a neighboring fine-dining restaurant. Staff monitor all products entering and leaving the facility from a work station on the loading dock. From there, all products route to a storage space that serves the main store area and functions as a remote storage annex. "Both spaces can be easily accessed by the culinary team and purveyors as appropriate," says IFDT.

The walk-in cooler in the remote annex holds raw ingredients and proteins while another cooler in the main storage area holds vegetables and mise en place items. A small freezer contains parbaked breads and bagels and a few bakery items. The primary cooler near the back door allows staff to conveniently stage catering orders.

In the back-of-the-house cold prep area, staff cut vegetables and prepare ingredients for hot prep, which resides in the front of the house. An ice bin and ice maker also sit in the back-of-the-house kitchen.

The back of the house, which is limited in size and scope, contains functional components such as warewashing with a ventless dishmachine. "The concept has limited permanent warewashing requirements with respect to overall sales, so a minimal warewashing station has proven sufficient," IFDT says. Staff, however, can access the warewashing station from the front-of-the-house production stations through one door, while bussers access warewashing from the dining area through a separate, dedicated door. "This alleviates conflicting flow patterns by staff members with different dedicated functions," IFDT says.

Other back-of-the-house components include an ice maker, a mop sink, bulk prep and offices.