Lunch & Learn: Restaurant Design & Equipment

John Gruner of Gruner, Prussner and Lloyd Restaurant Solutions will present on his work as a restaurant consultant in the first hour of the January lunch and learn. John will explore how restaurant design incorporates many specialties and expertises that are combined to create a stage for food to be presented and consumed. John will make an analogy to theatre design in creating an ambiance for all the senses in order to have a successful restaurant.  Some topics that will be covered in this presentation include:  What expertise does a restaurant consultant bring to the table?  How does a restaurant consultant fit on the design team?  What problems can be resolved/avoided by a restaurant consultant.  At what point in the development of a restaurant should a restaurant consultant be brought into a project?

The 12:30 PM session will be Mark  Proulx from Stafford Smith on restaurant equipment and layout.  Mark is from the Kalamazoo branch of Stafford Smith.  Topics to be covered include the following:  What makes an efficient commercial kitchen layout?  What should an architect know in order to work with a kitchen equipment specialist?  What can an architect look for in a restaurant equipment specialist to provide as part of their services?  What can be done to ensure future flexibility in a commercial kitchen to allow for changing equipment technology?  What are some of the changing regulations and technologies in the commercial equipment arena?