From smaller footprints and more automation to new equipment and a renewed focus on energy efficiency, commercial kitchens are changing and preparing for what’s ahead
By Nancy Wood
From automated robots that flip burgers to combination ovens and zero-waste kitchens, restaurant owners and operators are constantly being bombarded with new technologies and processes that promise more efficient and environmentally friendly kitchens.
And while the pandemic put an abrupt -– albeit temporary –halt to dining in, some cost-saving measures are giving forward-thinking restaurateurs the ability to consider reinvestments that will keep kitchens running at their leanest.
But where does the business-savvy restaurateur start? While new concepts and new builds offer a clean start – so to speak – more established concepts or smaller operations are looking at implementing sustainability programs and retrofitting with new equipment with one eye on the bottom line.
That doesn’t mean certain aspects of the kitchen of the future aren’t already here – they are. And many – from energy-efficient equipment to paperless automated ordering systems and composting – are taking root across Georgia.
Efficiency Rules the Day
Regardless of the concept, size or location of a restaurant, efficiency, effectiveness and safety will continue to rule. And decisions made today can have a big impact on the kitchens of tomorrow.
The founders of Amici Italian Cafes, with both corporate-owned and franchised locations, take a proactive approach to their decision-making, starting with diligent research.
“Whether it’s a new process or procedure, a new technology or a new piece of equipment, we go through an evaluation stage,” says partner Mike Torino, who adds that they’re constantly looking for more efficient kitchen equipment. “Then we inform our franchisees as to what we found and why we felt that particular item would be an efficient and more effective way of managing and running the kitchen, or any part of the restaurant for that matter.”
“You can’t stop a rolling train,” adds son Chris Torino, who founded the restaurant group in 1993. “We try to implement new things while the business is still operating. It’s different from a concept that’s being developed from scratch.”
Even during the pandemic, the Torinos continued updating existing locations and have five new locations that will open in the next 12 to 18 months. “We didn’t press pause on that,” says Mike Torino. In fact, a location in Easley, S.C., opened in July. “Each piece of the puzzle gets put in place for the next franchisee or the next corporate store,” adds Chris Torino.
Havird (Hav) Usry, a partner with his father Brad in Augusta-based Fat Man’s Hospitality Group, agrees. “Having an existing kitchen and creating things that are sustainable and more environmentally friendly is a little more difficult than creating something new.”
For the company’s latest concept, The Southern Salad, Usry created a smaller footprint for the kitchen and went all-electric. With a smaller footprint, there is less overhead, according to Usry. The all-electric equipment is more cost-efficient, and there are no gas emissions. “We can plug in an oven and do everything we need to do as far as cooking goes,” says Usry.
“Plus,” he says, “there’s no dirty grease that has to be processed.” He also switched to electric for most things at two other concepts, Fat Man’s Mill Café and Enterprise Mill Event Center, and is slowly eliminating the use of gas completely.
During the pandemic, Usry has found the smaller footprint of Southern Salad to be a real plus. “Technologically, we were well ahead of the game when we opened Southern Salad,” he says. “There’s a lot more takeout and delivery [now]. I think it’s going to be even more of a trend after the pandemic.”
Amici Café franchise owner Jon Joiner, with his business partner Bob Ewing, is following a path carved out by founder Chris and Mike Torino by going all-electric, too. “As a whole, the company has been focusing on all-electric equipment as opposed to gas,” he says.
“Historically,” says Chris Torino, “because we’re a pizza-heavy concept, there was a lot of gas in the equipment we were using, whether it was deck ovens, fry griddles or fryers themselves. There was a lot of wasted energy that literally went up in thin air. With these smart pieces of equipment that self-regulate, they only use what is necessary related to the volume.”
The move to all-electric kitchen equipment definitely seems to be having an impact on commercial kitchens, and for good reason. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy, restaurants use about five to seven times more energy per square foot than other commercial buildings. And high-volume QSRs can use up to 10 times more. That means energy costs are a big item on the bottom line.
To help reduce those costs, the GRA negotiated with Georgia Power to offer independent restaurateurs access to favorable electricity rates that were previously only available to large chains. In addition, Georgia Power has a rebate program for commercial kitchen equipment.
“There are many ways to make things more efficient,” says Usry, “and in older kitchens, the easiest way is with equipment.” Since restaurant equipment is notoriously expensive, the decision to buy new, environmentally friendly equipment can be difficult – especially during the pandemic. For new concepts in particular, it can be crucial to keep costs low in order to reap larger financial rewards in the future.
“The only real way to do it is to purchase new equipment that has the ENERGY STAR® rating,” says Usry. In 2018, he opted to purchase an all-electric double oven for an event space rather than buy a less costly version that didn’t have the ENERGY STAR rating. The result was a substantial rebate through Georgia Power’s program and only a slight increase in the cost of the oven.
“Georgia Power has a list of equipment that is ENERY STAR rated,” he says. “All of the equipment purchased for that space, including that double oven, was purchased off of that list.
“It’s great for people opening restaurants on a budget,” he adds. “I got a rebate on every piece equipment.” The result? Usry says he saves between $400 and $500 a month on energy bills.
“There are a lot of programs out there that we as restaurateurs have to investigate,” he says, “instead of making impulse purchases to save dollars instantaneously.”
Automation, New Equipment
Choosing the right equipment is already making an impact on commercial kitchens by lower utility costs and water usage, but it also makes a difference in staff time and labor costs. While Amici franchise owner Jon Joiner anticipates substantial savings in energy costs by going all-electric, he also finds the new equipment saves space, is safer and easier to clean.
“The thing I like about the electric equipment is it’s lighter and on wheels, so it’s easier to move around for cleaning,” which saves maintenance time for the staff. “The ability to control the temperature range is a huge help,” he adds, “and it cooks our pizza in almost half the time that our old gas brick ovens used to do.” The result is faster ticket times and guest turnover. “You can imagine how that has changed our entire approach to the kitchen.”
For restaurant concepts that require fryers, there are new options that eliminate grease bins outside of restaurants, like Amici Café’s reclaimed oil system.
“Now we have these smart tanks inside our restaurants that hold fresh oil in one tank and used oil in the other tank,” explains Chris Torino. “All of this is monitored through the internet and GPS tracking capabilities as to when the trucks need to come empty our tanks and refill them.”
Because the information is automatically sent to contact points in their email system, Chris says they can also make corrections or other adjustments in a virtual setting without having to be there.
Another benefit of the oil management system is safety, adds Mike Torino. “Changing oil in fryers was traditionally a very messy and very dangerous job because you had to change it when the oil is hot.” This system doesn’t require changing the oil. “They just flip the lever, and the bad oil goes into the tanks and the good oil gets filled.”
Amici is also using a new type of filter in their fryers that has extended the use of the oil by at least 50%. “That helps the green movement, too,” says Mike.
Other labor-saving devices fall into a less ‘techie’ category – like a slicer that can dice a case of tomatoes in 15 minutes or a hand-cranked piece of equipment that can pound chicken breasts in a quarter of the time – with a more consistent result.
In a different part of the kitchen, staff time is saved right along with energy and water with new dishwasher designs. At Amici, they have switched to high-temperature ventless dishwashers as opposed to low-temperature models that used a lot more chemicals. “These are generally used for much higher volume locations than ours,” says Chris Torino. “But we’re using a lot less water and it’s taking less time. Overall we’re saving water and energy.”
Automation and technology are making serious inroads in the front of the house as well.
The use of automated touchscreens, online ordering systems with kitchen display systems and self-pay technology has ramped up over the past few months as restaurants shifted to contactless service and a dramatic increase in to-go orders.
At two of Hav Usry’s concepts, he had already implemented self-ordering kiosks before the pandemic. Once the order is placed, it goes straight to the kitchen to be filled with no paper ticket. “That automation has been very interesting to watch grow,” he says. “It’s super fast and efficient, and it frees up our team members to help other people and do more than just fulfill the order.” Since the pandemic, Usry has installed sanitary wipes near the kiosks with signage asking guests to wipe it off before and after they use it, plus the staff is proactive about wiping it down. “Pre-Covid, about 10% of our ordering was online, delivery or self-kiosk,” he says. “Recently, almost 30% was no contact.”
Other paper-saving options include automated reporting systems that allow owner/operators to watch everything from sales to day-to-day analytics in real time.
At Amici Cafes, the Torinos are currently in the process of converting to an integrated program based on their POS system. In the past, Chris Torino said so much of the data was transmitted from one copier to another to another. “By going to this paperless idea, future savings on paper products alone should really play out in the years to come.”
A Focus on Sustainability
Saving money on paper costs is just the tip of the iceberg for sustainability programs in kitchens across the state. Programs for managing recyclable products, food waste and composting are just a few methods restaurant trend-watchers expect to continue growing. Although some kitchens of the future may aim for ‘zero waste,’ for most venues that is an expensive and unattainable goal. In the meantime, there are steps that can be put in place to make a difference.
One of the more challenging areas for restaurateurs is recycling. Georgia is one of several states where recycling programs are becoming more stringent or disappearing altogether. In Augusta, “Our city and county just ended our recycling program,” says Usry. His solution? “We have customers at all locations turn glass back in, and we take the glass and metal cans to a recycling vendor.”
At his Amici Café locations in Macon and Milledgeville, Joiner is working on his own recycling solutions and is talking with a waste disposal company about getting large rolling recycling cans. Joiner has also moved away from glass and has already gone to canned beer. His next step is moving toward single-serve wine. But his most creative solution is to use the basement of his Milledgeville location as a collection site.
“I’m working on the possibility of literally creating a hole in the ground behind the bar with a chute down to the recycling bin.” Recyclables would be thrown in and collected downstairs, then taken out at the end of the night. “You can’t do 100% in your establishment,” he says, “but to do as much as we can is better than not trying at all.”
Another concern in the industry is food waste. In the U.S. alone, an estimated 40% of all food produced gets thrown out – that’s 38 million tons annually. New technology that extends the shelf-life of some foods is now available, but some lower-tech options may be more cost-effective ways to keep food waste out of landfills.
At Amici Cafes, the Torinos have installed garbage disposals. “The amount of actual garbage that goes into the dumpster is reduced,” says Mike Torino, “because a lot of what we do now is ground up and disposed accordingly.”
At The Southern Salad, Hav Usry has taken a different approach to reducing/reusing food waste. He uses a dehydrator for excess produce that can extend the shelf-life for weeks. “If we have too much source, we can make a product with it without letting it go bad in the refrigerator.”
On the other hand, because they still create waste from produce at The Southern Salad, Usry says each team member has a five-gallon bucket to put excess waste in while prepping. All the scraps go into a bag, and a local farmer collects them to use as compost on his farm. “I’d much rather somebody use the waste than it sit in a trash can,” he says.
That bag even includes compostable bowls. “Everything we use is compostable,” he says, “utensils, cups, lids, bowls, bowl lid and bags.” Usry has been fortunate that his supply chain stayed strong during the pandemic. “We’ve made an effort to make sure that everything is single-use and pre-wrapped for all of our orders,” he adds. Even though he can’t use compostable items at all of his concepts, “We all hope that that’s making a difference.”
What the Future Holds
While addressing the immediate challenges of a pandemic and focusing on keeping the doors open, the industry will continue to lean in on robotics, automation, energy efficiency and sustainability for the long term. And there are a lot of decisions to make going forward.
“There’s a lot to consider when deciding to take on a new technology or a new product,” says Chris Torino. Although he thinks there is going to be a lot more automation in the industry in the future, he and his father agree that if the processes and procedures you need for a particular concept can become cleaner and more efficient, ultimately over time the whole industry will get better.
“You want to utilize the technology that is out there to better serve your restaurant for efficiency, but also not be wasteful,” says Amici franchisee Joiner. “To not be wasteful is really just helping your bottom line.”
But, like Usry, Chris Torino says there must still be human interaction “to do what we do.”
“Let’s be progressive, and let’s make it easier for the customer,” Usry says. “But Southern hospitality is a quality that I don’t want to get lost. We can’t forget about that.”