Two little words — “kitchen renovation” — are known to strike depression, possibly fear and feelings of helplessness into the hearts of many an otherwise intrepid foodservice operator.

How can you possibly “shut down” your kitchen yet continue to feed your customers pretty much in the style to which they've become accustomed? It's never easy, but it doesn't have to be an insurmountable problem. Here to help are “lessons learned,” shared by several operators who have survived to tell the tale. There are also words of wisdom offered by the principals of two companies whose temporary kitchen solutions offer nearly “off-the-shelf” solutions to keeping an operation running seamlessly while renovation is underway.

‘Temporary’ as a positive transition

“In our business, we find people will use duct tape and bailing wire as long as possible,” chuckles Ralph Goldbeck, A/A, partner, Carlin Manufacturing, LLC, Kitchens To Go, LLC. In fact, KTG has erected approximately 400 temporary kitchens since it was formed in 1999, and the seemingly unflappable Goldbeck is well aware of the discomfort level of operators at the outset of such a project.

“One of the biggest challenges we face from operators — and we take this concern very seriously — is getting them to have a comfort level that our ‘temporary’ facilities will be just as good, if not better, than what they have been working out of and that they will have the tools necessary to maintain the quality of their foodservice programs.”

About 18 months ago, Kitchens To Go, headquartered in Naperville, IL, was commissioned by the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, to deliver a 38,350 square foot replacement kitchen for use during the renovation of historic King Hall, which serves as the on-campus galley at the school. It provides 14,000 freshly prepared meals to undergraduate midshipmen each day. It took less than 78 days for the temporary unit to be operational — no matter that Mother Nature dumped three separate blizzards during that construction cycle — from ground breaking to fully code-approved opening. (For a time-lapse video of the constrution effort, see FMTV on p. 24)

Academy leadership had determined that either a temporary catering solution or a phased construction approach would each present logistical nightmares and/or would prove too costly in the long run. So KTG was hired — through general contractor Barton Malow (Southfield, MI) to build a temporary galley kitchen complex on campus.

The modular kitchen complex featured a 14,100 sq.ft., code-compliant Sprung Clear Span tension membrane structure. Manufactured by Sprung Instant Structures, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, it's a great alternative to a tent, Goldbeck explains.

“It's an aluminum frame with fabric stretched on the interior and exterior, providing an R-28 insulation factor. So it's very efficient. Anytime we need a large open space for dining, receiving, warehousing, etc., we use a Sprung Structure.”

At Annapolis, the enclosed area was used for food prep as well as for cold/dry storage. “We moved a modular kitchen into place, and then the Sprung Structure was constructed next to it,” he says. “We built out cold storage, dry storage racks and the cold prep area.”

At presstime, the new, permanent Galley was approaching completion. When finished, the temporary installation will be removed with all materials and equipment ready to be reused in a temporary kitchen elsewhere.

“Actually, the installation could easily have been used there for 30 years,” Goldbeck points out. “It's the same type of construction used in some permanent facilities. It's not flimsy — and it's built to the specific codes required.”

Lessons Learned
• For this Annapolis installation, Goldbeck “would have cancelled the three blizzards since we had crews working 'round the clock!”

• In designing a project, typically form follows function. “But this temporary facility was designed around an historic tree [subsequently removed]; in our business, function follows form in creating a custom kitchen using standard components.”

• Goldbeck says he has learned that involving operators in the design portion of any project is key to success. While they may not be involved in commissioning the project, “They have to live in it, and it's important we give them the tools to meet their production requirements,” Goldbeck contends. “I compare it to a heart/lung machine; we are life support for their foodservice program until their new kitchen is up and running. We want the operation to be a success.”

Taking ‘a bit longer’

At about midnight on September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike — reportedly the third costliest hurricane to ever make landfall in the U.S. — hit Galveston, TX. The University of Texas Medical Branch suffered the total destruction of its main kitchen. Since then, UTMB has been trying to fit the foodservice operation into little spaces on campus, notes Glenn Therrien, president and CEO of Chesapeake, VA-based Kitchen Corps., Inc.

When this retired U.S. Navy Seabee formed his company 15 years ago, he adopted the Navy's motto for his business: “The difficult we do right away, the impossible takes a bit longer.” Now, almost three years post-Ike, he's tackling what seemed impossible; a 15,000 square foot kitchen has arrived in a parking lot a few blocks away from the previous kitchen location.

“It arrived in 29 trailers and was assembled in 30 days — including 70 tons of air conditioning,” Therrien is happy to report. There's a 70-foot exhaust hood, an 18-foot flight-type dishwasher, a catering kitchen with a 38-foot exhaust hood, 60-foot by 60-foot dry storage area, 60-foot by 60-foot refrigerator/freezer area, plus office space. He points out that all exhaust hoods are variable speed, and that there are three 20-ton air conditioning units up and running. This installation could actually be permanent since it's up to all inspection codes, but the renovation of the original kitchen is slated for completion in three years when this “temporary” one will be removed.

Today, more than 3,000 meals are prepared in the Kitchen Corps. facility and shuttled from the parking lot site in large temperature controlled vehicles (provided by another vendor); some meal components are headed to the main building while others are delivered to another venue for the patient tray line.

Lessons Learned
• Therrien admits that when he first started this company, he didn't seek to manage the air supply air to the exhaust hood. “But especially in southern states, heat is a problem because supply air is pulled in from outside — so we had to start climate controlling that. Bringing in hot air wasted the conditioned air inside, wasted money, and created unhappy cooks.”

• Over the years he's learned that customers don't always know what they need. “Often they [an administration] won't ask for enough space and equipment to really do the job,” he says. “We try to counsel them on what they need, even though the project budget often gets in the way.”