Category: Restaurants

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2 Drainage Options All Foodservice Consultants Should Know About

Made To Drain created two unique products designed to make drainage easy, effective, and convenient.

What sets Made To Drain (MTD) apart is the engineered floor troughs developed to assist and enhance the draining process. The Leak Eliminator and Clog-Free™ are two of MTD’s products that are making a big difference in kitchens everywhere. Anyone who works in the foodservice industry will want to know about these amazing drain options.

Made To Drain’s Leak Eliminator

Nobody wants to deal with having a leak no matter how big or small the damage is. The Leak Eliminator was designed by MTD is help avoid unnecessary leaks when it comes to floor trough installations. All of MTD’s products are created with the intention of containing and redirecting excessive water and debris. The seepage flange mates support the flooring of the trough while also clenching down to create a “watertight seal”. The weep holes placed on the flange permit any excess liquid to smoothly flow into the building drain line. Investing in the Leak Eliminator is a good way to be proactive and, hopefully, avoid leaks all together! The Leak Eliminator, and all of MTD’s products, were carefully constructed to guarantee the highest levels of quality and safety for their consumers and customers. Buying the Leak Eliminator is not just an everyday purchase but an investment. Read more the specifics of the Leak Eliminator by visiting MTD’s site.

Made To Drain’s Clog-Free™

MTD’s Clog-Free™ has given drainage a whole new image and reputation. Clogs are a problem of the past when consumers invest in Clog-Free™. With Clog-Free™ consumers are able to completely eliminate free-standing water. This particular product provides the ultimate protection for any tile and grout used to ground a floor trough by virtually cutting back on all clogs and leaks. As a result, another added benefit of Clog-Free™ is a noteworthy difference in minimizing the number of slips and falls taking place in the kitchen area. Clog-Free™ takes safety to a new level.

However, it is the high capacity strainer trays that make Clog-Free™ stand out. Watch this video to see how beautifully the tray works in action. Grease traps will indirectly greatly benefit from investing in Clog-Free™ by reducing the amount of sediment throughout the process. Not to mention, the additional perk of never having to make another maintenance-related phone call is enough to make anyone in the foodservice industry consider investing in Clog-Free™.

How to make the best drainage choice

Food consultants are one-way interested individuals are able to learn about drainage options when it comes to the foodservice industry. Made To Design’s website provides potential customers with the essential information needed to make the best decision. For each product

Made To Design shares the spec sheet, Revit, and installation guide of each and every product. Navigating the architecture of MTD’s products can seem overwhelming, but it is actually a very easy process. Made To Drain provides all of their contact information for any questions or concerns and is happy to help you with this process. Use this tool provided by Made To Drain to find a rep nearby to begin exploring all of the products and opportunities today.

In the past, drainage may have not been considered innovative or impressive, but Made To Drain has changed the drainage game. The foodservice industry is changing for the better with products like Leak Eliminator and  Clog-Free™. It can be overwhelming to begin thinking about these changes and purchases, but Made To Drain is here to help. Check out MTD’s engineered floor troughs and remarkable draining options and it will be obvious why consumers will want to invest in these products.

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How Healthcare Foodservice Leaders Are Responding in 2020

Pressure was placed on healthcare foodservice leaders to develop an unexpected pandemic response plan.

Many have prepared for emergencies like fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, or mass shootings, but a pandemic was not on the list for the near future. Since being prepared is key to any good action plan, a lot of pressure was placed on healthcare foodservice leaders to develop an unexpected pandemic response plan. Nonetheless, they stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park with response plans created to anticipate the worst, respond immediately, and adapt to the inevitable changes to come. Circumstances differ from hospital to hospital due to location and outbreak, but food service leaders are working hard to keep providing food to patients and staff. Continue reading How Healthcare Foodservice Leaders Are Responding in 2020

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The Celebrity Appeal Behind Food Waste Reduction

Food waste reduction is popular for a variety of reasons. It fights hunger. It’s good for the environment. It’s appealing to younger consumers. And it’s profitable.

But there’s another type of popularity to consider when it comes to food waste reduction, and it involves celebrities and household names.

James Beard is arguably the most recognized name we associate with restaurants. The James Beard Foundation Awards are essentially the “Oscars of Food,” as every year, restaurants, chefs, journalists, writers, TV producers, bartenders, and sommeliers are given our country’s top honors. Now, they’re also educating us on how to make the most of our food.

With the release of Waste Not: How to Get the Most From Your Food, the James Beard Foundation provides some answers from several “scrap-savvy” chefs. Some of their tips?

  • Utilize roots as part of the dish. They can add a beautiful element, and depending on the type of vegetable, add a great bitter element.
  • Roast wilting vegetables like celery and carrots to bring them back to life.
  • Don’t peel vegetables. Instead of shedding the outer layer of a carrot or cucumber, wash it well, and use the brilliant colors. Citrus peels? Send them to the bar for use in cocktails.
  • Purée wilting herbs with olive oil before they turn black. Then freeze them for later use.
  • Freeze berries on a tray rather than together so they don’s stick to one another.
  • Use vegetable scraps, roots, tops, and greens to create vegetable stock.

These are just a few examples contained in James Beard’s book on food waste, but the Beard name isn’t the only one popping up in food waste reduction efforts. All across the country, famous chefs and culinary experts are joining the fray, as we look to reduce the amount of food we waste.

Lakeside’s Bussing Carts are the perfect solution to help clean up your new reduced waste meals. Learn more about Bussing Carts here.

Wasted! The Story of Food Waste

A film from the late executive producer Anthony Bourdain, Wasted! The Story of Food Waste aims to change the way people buy, cook, recycle, and eat food. As seen through the eyes of some of the most famous chefs in the world, this documentary shows viewers how to make the most of our foods, transforming what most consider as scraps into incredible dishes.

Celebrity Chefs Across the Pond

In an article in Reuters, Chef Douglas McMaster described working in a previous job as a young cook, watching as hundreds of gem lettuces were thrown away as only the root was served… as a garnish. McMaster was the 2009 BBC Young Chef of the Year and now owns Britain’s first zero-waste restaurant.

“We like to think of zero waste as not having a bin,” McMaster said. “Every natural thing has a purpose, you just got to find out what that purpose is.”

Food Waste Pop-Ups

Chef Dan Barber was featured in the first season of Netflix’s critically-acclaimed series, Chef’s Table. Barber has been called a “philosopher chef,” and owns the prestigious Blue Hill restaurant in Westchester County, New York. He also owned a restaurant in Greenwich Village called Blue Hill, but changed it to a food waste pop-up called WastED, serving dishes from ingredients that would normally be headed for the trash.

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Your Guide to Mobile Handwashing Stations

Handwashing on the go has become pivotal, We’ve created a guide for the best use cases and set-up for your operations.

We’re living in an era of increased importance when it comes to sanitation. According to the Center for Disease Control, we know the coronavirus and the subsequent COVID-19 disease it causes is spread mainly through people-to-people contact. This means people who are within six feet of one another are at risk of transmitting the virus. Because it’s transferred through respiratory droplets that are produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, it’s also critical that we wash our hands. Continue reading Your Guide to Mobile Handwashing Stations

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Is Your Stainless Steel “COVID Clean”? – Disinfect The Right Way

Traditionally, stainless steel has been one of the most widely-used materials in commercial kitchens. And there’s a reason for that. Continue reading Is Your Stainless Steel “COVID Clean”? – Disinfect The Right Way

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Street-Side Dining: How to Pivot Your Service Outside

Party in the front, business in the back. We’re being forced to acclimate ourselves to both a new way of doing business and a new way of dining as consumers.

We’re living in the golden age of street-side dining, whether we like it or not. All across the country, the back-of-the-house is migrating to the front-of-the-house. This is the result of the void filled by the front-of-the-house moving to the patio, the sidewalk, and in some cases, even the street. Tables are now filling parking spaces that have been roped off. Streets are closed off to cars. In places nationwide, cities are turning roads into restaurants. In New York City alone, nearly nine miles of city streets are shut down to traffic to help provide for outdoor dining spaces for restaurants and bars. While this is a positive thing for restaurants helping them to move forward in the warmer months of summer, this street-side dining trend also creates some challenges. Continue reading Street-Side Dining: How to Pivot Your Service Outside

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6 Simple Actionable Steps for Foodservice Amidst COVID-19

What steps should you take to ensure the safety of your foodservice operation?

COVID-19 Basics in the Food Industry

In the midst of this global pandemic, it is critical for our customers to be aware of COVID-19 and what it means for our industry. The coronavirus and subsequent COVID-19 disease has made its way across the globe, and it’s having impacts on the foodservice industry that have never been seen before.

First, it’s important to know the coronavirus is spread through direct contact of person to person and airborne droplets. If the virus makes its way onto a surface, it can live anywhere from 24-72 hours. 

If someone touches a surface that has been contaminated by someone else with the virus, they can contract it if they do not wash their hands immediately. Washing your hands before touching your mouth, nose, or eyes will kill the virus and the best type of prevention.

More details and guidelines can be found here from the CDC.
Continue reading 6 Simple Actionable Steps for Foodservice Amidst COVID-19

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The Biggest Foodservice Trend of the COVID-19 Pandemic

We’ve detailed many of the changes in foodservice through a variety of our posts in 2020. From the great debate between sanitizer and soap and water to senior care foodservice compliance, there have been many adjustments across the entire landscape of where and how we eat. Continue reading The Biggest Foodservice Trend of the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Mastering the Basics of Bussing and Outdoor Dining Post Covid

If you run a professional kitchen, you are well aware that a smooth flow of staff can make or break a successful evening of service.

From avoiding tickets getting hung up in the kitchen to ensuring there are clean plates, every individual’s contribution is critical to success. One key role that can often go overlooked is the busser. Read on to better understand the critical role of the busser and to pick up a few tips to help staff members successfully clear tables and improve customer experience.

Bussing: A Critical Component

Every person operating in a restaurant contributes to the success of the group, and this includes the busser. They serve a number of important functions that require experience and training.

Focus on Service

Happy guests are a must for a successful restaurant, and bussers are on the frontline of preserving the guest experience. When guests arrive, they should be met with a clean table and quickly provided a glass of water. The water should be replenished as needed, and guests shouldn’t be left with dirty dishes in front of them. These are all obvious ways that bussers contribute to positive guest experiences.

There are less obvious ways that bussers can contribute – or detract – from the customer experience as well. Leaving tubs of dirty dishes in the line of sight of guests isn’t appetizing. If a busser is frazzled, this contributes frenetic energy to what should be a welcoming atmosphere.

Regardless of how your establishment employs bussers, there is no doubt that having a skilled and highly trained bussing staff will elevate guests’ dining experience.

Encourage Kitchen Flow

While keeping guests happy is of vital importance, it isn’t the only way bussers are important to a restaurant kitchen. Bussers are responsible for delivering an essential item to foodservice: flatware and dinnerware. Restaurants need to optimize their budgets, which means they can’t keep a never-ending supply of dishes and flatware in stock.

Bussers are responsible for getting dirty dishes back to dishwashers, who then get dishes cleaned and back in circulation. If bussers aren’t appropriately staffed or trained to efficiently move dishes, this could cause a backlog for the entire kitchen.

Tips for Training Bussers

One of the most important factors in efficient bussing is having well-trained staff. Make sure your staff is trained with the following in mind:

  • Have a restaurant-wide plan. Be clear on what your establishment’s position is on bussing. Must all guests’ plates be cleared at one time, or should they be cleared as each guest finishes? Is there an order of priority in which dishes should be cleared?
  • Read the table. While bussers may not interact with guests as much as the wait staff, they still need to read guest preferences. While guests don’t want to feel rushed, they also don’t want to sit with empty dishes for an extended period of time. Work with your bussers to help them pick up on guest cues to avoid guests feeling rushed or ignored.
  • Communication is key. Bussers need to feel comfortable with the rest of the staff so the entire staff can communicate concerns or needs. 
  • Understand the basics. Bussers need to be well-versed in basic restaurant service skills, such as folding napkins, when silverware should be replaced, whether plates should be removed on a tray, and how to properly crumb a table.

Having a highly-operating bussing staff will ease the burdens for the rest of the kitchen.

Find the Right Equipment

Even if your bussing staff is well-trained, they can’t operate at the highest level without the right equipment. Lakeside offers personalized solutions that help foodservice directors manage their responsibilities by providing knowledgeable experts to advise on products and equipment. Lakeside can help your team select the best bussing products to optimize your kitchen experience. Contact us today to find out how we can help.

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Enabling Kitchen Efficiency: Lakeside’s Mise en Place Stations

As you look at the organization of your commercial kitchen, you likely have mise en place front of mind.

This French term for “to put things in place” is a method that helps chefs prepare ingredients and organize equipment in anticipation of a busy service.

In order to execute an effective mise en place strategy, it is important to have the right equipment. With over 70 years of experience, Lakeside offers a diverse product line. This product line, along with collaboration with end-users and foodservice consultants, allows Lakeside to provide its customers with the equipment they need. Lakeside offers three mise en place solutions to help set your kitchen up for success.

Read on to learn more about how our mise en place stations can help optimize your kitchen’s efficiencies.

Lakeside Mise En Place Carts

Lakeside’s three mise en place stations offer a number of great features. Each model includes a stainless steel top frame built to hold a full-size pan. It can also accommodate smaller pans with standard inserts or a cutting board.

The cart has integrated handles on both sides, allowing it to hold a 1/3 pan or two 1/6 pans. A detachable speed rail with an integrated towel bar allows you to use the carts to arrange and hold the ingredients for your mise en place, including spices, seasonings, bottles, and sauces.

All models are ADA compliant so can be used by any member of your staff.

Model 140

This model can be moved and adjusted as needed for your space. It includes a cantilevered H-base with four small casters that are all-swivel with brakes. This enables the cart to roll under ranges for optimal use and storage options. Adding to its versatility, Model 140 is 21×38 inches but has an adjustable-height top, so it to be modified to suit your needs.

Model 146

This mise en place cart is Lakeside’s classic model. It has an overall size of 17.5 x 38 x 35 inches and includes four 3.5 inch casters that swivel.

Model 145

If you are concerned about shipping costs and are confident in your assembly abilities, you can consider opting for Model 145. This offers the same, classic set-up as Model 146 but comes unassembled, reducing costs associated with shipping and storage. We know some people just like building things, so with our easy-to-follow instructions, it should be a sinch!

Benefits of Lakeside Carts

Each of the Lakeside mise en place carts assists you in providing menu innovation without compromising the existing kitchen layout. Efficient layout will allow the chefs in your commercial kitchen to organize ingredients and equipment in a way that makes the most sense for their process. The carts are also versatile, perfect for tableside meal prep and customization.

Lakeside mise en place carts will enable chef and staff in commercial kitchens to:

  • Organize cooking equipment and utensils;
  • Peel, wash, chop, or dice vegetables;
  • Trim and portion meat;
  • Prepare fish fillets; and
  • Keep spices close at hand

The above are just suggestions. The beauty of Lakeside mise en place carts is that how they are used can be unique to each member of the kitchen staff. In addition to organization, mise en place carts also promote menu planning, inventory management, and kitchen cleanliness.

Contact Lakeside Today

Whether you know exactly which mise en place carts are right for your kitchen or you need help strategizing the best fit, Lakeside is here to help. If you don’t see exactly what you need, we are happy to work with you to develop exactly what you need by modifying a standard product or specially designing a product for your unique application

Contact Lakeside today to begin your journey to a more organized kitchen.