In summer 2020 it was essential for restaurants to open a summer seat so that they could comply with the need to serve outdoors as much as possible, and now, in 2021, this has become a real food service trend.
An increasing number of chefs and entrepreneurs are moving from their original locations, especially in the cities, to open pop-up and temporary restaurants in areas where the climate assists them; seaside or lakeside spots or popular tourist resorts.
The specialist journals, for example Gambero Rosso, are writing about Italian and international celebrity cooks who have chosen typically summer destinations in which to open ‘branches’ of their restaurants.
For example, Chef Giancarlo Perbellini has chosen Sicily and Lake Garda; the Cerea family, who run the three-star restaurant Da Vittorio, the beaches of the Italian Riviera; the Alajmo have opened their Hostaria on the island of Certosa (Venice); Chef Carlo Cracco has moved to the area of the Navigli di Milano and is about to open a new restaurant at Portofino.
The business decision to transfer one’s workplace, even temporarily, to organise a new food service point in another location, is undoubtedly not without difficulties.
The first consideration is the space available for the kitchen, which may not be designed for the purpose or could mask restrictions and pitfalls that only a fully bespoke design can overcome.
It is then essential to achieve perfect workflow organisation as soon as possible, so as not to disappoint customers’ expectations and desires from a restaurant that provides an experience that may be different, but must not lessen the quality of its normal service.
In this case, restaurateurs might choose to adapt their menu to a different target, considering tourists and holiday-makers, which would lead to total re-organisation of flows and processes besides the culinary aspect.
What characteristics and values are needed to set up a successful format away from one’s original location? Food service operators must be ready to employ:
• Flexibility in ensuring a fast, quality experience that satisfies and adapts perfectly to the needs of a new clientele, very different from the normal running of the main restaurant;
• Organisation and re-organisation, i.e. the ability to optimise new flows and areas, without reducing standards and performance, creating new relationships within the territory, such as suppliers, for example, and new raw materials, etc.;
• Adaptability, the necessary compromise with the new schedules and rhythms typical of a temporary location. This could mean, for example, serving a lot more tables and extending opening times at lunch and dinner.
We at GICO, a company that has been working in close contact with the professionals of the trade for 50 years, as well as dealing with kitchen architecture and design, consider it indispensable to respond promptly to our customers’ needs.
In 2021 we are already working on projects involving starred restaurants that have chosen to transfer their kitchens to a different location for the summer months. We are supporting their needs with ad hoc solutions that will help them to set up their ‘summer seats’.
For example, our mobile cooking suites guarantee great performance and attractive design, with the addition of the extreme versatility a transportable suite can provide. They are ideal for setting up pop-up food services in any place, be it indoor or outdoor.
We are also at our customers’ disposal to ensure a rapid go-to-market, meeting entrepreneurs’ needs and reducing delivery and installation times for turnkey solutions.
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