We had a wonderful discussion about the best restaurant designs with Independent Food Service / Commercial Kitchen Designer Consultant John Marenic of Marenic Food Service Consultants.
John has his own design firm of eight people, located in South Florida, Charlotte, and New York City. John’s reputation in the food service industry is renowned and his work is in high demand internationally. His clients are noteworthy, ranging from nonprofits and government agencies, Mystic Seaport, U.S. Coast Guard Academy, and the National Parks Service, to hotels such as the Four Seasons, to franchises such as Au Bon Pain and Outback.
In Florida, John has worked on projects such as Wet Willies in Miami, Thanos Fort Lauderdale, and Julia’s and Harry’s Food Court, downtown Miami.
We asked him to share his insights on commercial food service design and we’re excited to share his nuggets of wisdom and advice.
How did you become a foodservice designer?
“I started with Cini-Grissom (before they became Cini-Little), one of the largest food design consultants in the world. “I loved the work and it gave me wonderful exposure,” John says. The company was based in Bethesda, MD, and handled major projects in the D.C. area, including the Capital building, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, and other government buildings.
From there, John went to Ogden Food Services and was transferred to NYC. While working there, he came down to Florida for a vacation and decided then and there that South Florida was where he wanted to live. That vacation was 28 years ago and this has been his home ever since.
The four critical components of commercial kitchen design
John points out that there are four (4) basic and very important parts to any kitchen design restaurant project and these are the areas where one needs to be very careful in choosing both design and contractors.
- Exhaust Hoods – This is technical work, with specific local codes. Virtually every restaurant project includes an exhaust hood over a stove. These can be marked up 20 – 45% so limiting your hood size and negotiating price is critical.
- Walk-in Coolers / Refrigeration – Because all restaurants store food before it’s prepared, they all need refrigeration. Typical mark-up is 20 – 25%.
- Custom Fabrication – Fabrication is customized work for a specific space or design. According to John, this component becomes the most expensive component if the design is done by “people who are not good at this type of work.” This is typically marked up 20 – 45% and a common way dealers and design-build consultants control projects, so extra care must be made in this area.
- Buyout Equipment – This is the phrase for the “standard restaurant equipment,” which is available everywhere. John notes that this is the best (and least expensive) component. And if there’s ever a problem with buyout equipment, it can be easily replaced. Typical mark-up is 3 – 15%.
According to John, good designers don’t use a lot of Custom Fabrication because they work to design efficiently within a space, allowing for mostly Buyout (standard) Equipment.
Typically, there are only a handful of Custom Fabricators in any given region so this component can be very expensive.
Independent Design Consultant vs. Dealer
It’s important to know the difference between an Independent Design Consultant and a Dealer. An Independent Consultant should not have ties to any equipment manufacturer; for example, John has no allegiance to one manufacturer over another. “I do what’s best for the project,” he notes.
There are Independent Consultants who also build, and that’s called “Design Build.” In Danto Builders’ case, they work with Independent Consultants, like John, who create a kitchen design. Once Danto has the design, they put it out to bid, to get the best pricing and work.
On the other end of the spectrum are Dealers. They often have showrooms and they sell equipment and supplies.
These companies have used the leverage of selling equipment to create an internal ‘design department’. Many say they offer a “free design” in order to sell manufacturers’ equipment who offer them the highest margins. In reality, John explains, the equipment is marked-up enough to cover the cost of the design. “Nothing is free,” he laughs.
Some Consultants call themselves Design-Build Consultants in order to create designs that call for the manufacturers they can sell with the highest profit margin. Unfortunately, this happens a lot in the foodservice design business, so it’s important, John says, “to know who you’re working with and the level of integrity of their work.”
“I’m an Independent Design Consultant and I get paid for my design work,” John says.“ The most important thing that I tell people is to find out the background of the person who’s doing their design. What are their credentials? They should have a degree in Hospitality Management and some architectural design background.”
John shares that most of the people he meets in the industry “fell into” the design field, by either selling equipment to start, or working enough in other areas of the industry to feel as though they know how to design. “They think they know what’s important because they’ve eaten in a lot of restaurants,” he chuckles.
“That’s something I never get asked that I should get asked; people don’t ask because I’ve been recommended. But I have a Master’s Degree in Hospitality Management. I’ve worked for decades in food service and I’ve been designing all my life. I didn’t just get into it recently.”
Is there a difference between inexperienced and experienced food service designers?
“Yes,” John explains. “The difference is huge. That’s why background and education is important. If someone just started designing, they don’t know the codes. They might ask for help from the person next to them at work, but that person didn’t do the measurements and doesn’t know the exact flow or operation of the room.” A recipe for disaster.
One example John shares, of what beginning designers don’t do is think about the size of the equipment relative to the number of people being served. Most designers, he explains, design for the “standard size” of a walk-in cooler at a new restaurant. “But you don’t need an 8’x10’ cooler for every location,” he notes, “especially if you can get a taller one that uses less space and is less expensive.”
“With the pandemic, everyone wants to be a designer,” he warns. “A lot of people moved to Florida, and a lot of fly-by-night consultants have popped up. Getting a bad design can mean the end of a business.”
How can that be? He explains: a commercial kitchen design consultant hands a design off to the project architect, who then submits the design to the city for review. If it’s rejected (for any reason, including codes), it can take up to three months for a redesign to be reviewed again. The expense of those three months can mean the end of financing for a new restaurant.
“It takes five years of design work before you stop making mistakes,” says John. “And it takes another three years or so for you to avoid code issues, because codes change all the time.”
“I’m proud of the fact that I’ve never had a design rejected by a city, anywhere around the world, in over 15 years,” John says. When asked what states he knows the codes for, he explains, “I know the codes for all 50 states, Europe, and around the world. I’ve worked for an international food franchise in Russia, and high-end dining. I’ve been fortunate enough to work in many different countries.”
The sign of a great designer and consultant
John shares that an experienced designer will consider everything going into the kitchen and will suggest:
- The easiest “package” of equipment to order and get fulfilled, given equipment shortages and supply-chain issues.
- Try to get one name brand that will work for as much of the equipment as possible, so that when there are service issues, one service person/contract can take care of all the repairs. Also, bundling equipment increases your buying power with manufacturers (saving money).
- Take into consideration the cost of equipment vs. the number of diners in order to maximize the owner’s return on investment.
John also does volunteer work in South Florida and around the world, and teaches, even working with struggling restaurant-owners to help them learn about cost management practices.
What’s he working on now? “I’m excited about a project with Bristol Republic Barbecue in the Wynwood section of Miami,” he shares. “I really enjoy what I do, and I have a chance to travel.” John will be in South America later this year, then over in East Africa.
Danto Builders is proud to partner with John Marenic on projects, and believes that clients deserve the best, at a great price, from design to materials and construction. Have a question about your food service / restaurant project? Contact Debbie Danto to talk about it.