The Kitchener Snack Bar

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1381454414/a-food-lovers-dream-the-kitchener-snack-bar?ref=home_location

by MilnerRoute • 12 years ago

37 8 12 years ago

tzs• 12 years ago

I've suggested a similar idea to a few people. I called mine the "fine dining food court" (FDFC).

There would be one dinning area that is served by 4 different chefs. These chefs would be at the stage in their career where they want to get out and run their own restaurant, but do not yet have the money or the name recognition to pull it off. The FDFC would be a stepping-stone for them to that goal.

The FDFC owner would provide a large kitchen divided into 4 independent work areas (much like the kitchens you see on cooking competition shows like "Chopped" or "Next Iron Chef" or "Top Chef"). There would be a large pantry and walk-in fridge stocked by the FDFC, which any of the 4 chefs could take from as needed. There would also be some private pantry and fridge space for each chef that they could stock on their own.

The FDFC would deal deal with front of house, and would also provide sous chefs to assist the chefs (the chefs could also bring their own assistants, of course), and would deal with all the business aspects of the FDFC.

Each chef could provide several dishes for the menu. The menu would be sure to credit each dish to the appropriate chef.

The idea is that it is a lot cheaper for a chef to lease a cooking spot at FDFC than it is to open a new restaurant. He can spend a few months at FDFC, concentrating on a doing a few signature dishes well, to showcase his talent to the public and to potential restaurant investors, so he can get the name recognition and financial backing to strike out on his own.

The chefs would just deal with food. The FDFC would operate a bar for those who want to drink before dinner (or instead of dinner...) and would also deal with wine.

One of the owners of the FDFC should be an experienced and successful restauranteur, who would provide advice to the chefs if they wanted it.

The beauty of this is that the owner of the FDFC makes his money from the bar and from wine, and from leasing space to the chefs. If a particular chef's menu bombs, there will be another young chef eager to take his place. This should be a lot less risky financially for the FDFC owners than owning a traditional restaurant.

kkwok• 12 years ago

This sounds interesting! Excuse my lack of knowledge in case this is a silly question, but from my understanding most of the profit in being a chef comes from high margin alcohol and beverage sales. Would this make more sense for the aspiring chef than using a platform like Kitchensurfing or something else?

na85• 12 years ago

FYI putting "food court" in the same sentence as "fine dining" is a bit of a non-sequitur for most people.

At least where I'm from, food courts are pretty much synonymous with cheap, greasy fast food.

randallsquared• 12 years ago

I think the cognitive dissonance is kinda the point.

austinstorm• 12 years ago

It's a cool juxtaposition - I think it communicates the right expectations (good food in a casual space).

rocky1138• 12 years ago

I had to do a double-take. Kitchener, Ontario making the front page of HN? Obviously, this was not to be :)

whitewhim• 12 years ago

I had the exact same reaction :)

taternuts• 12 years ago

They do something like this in DC - http://www.unionkitchendc.com/

The Kitchener Snack Bar

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