Advanced Pastry Kitchen
The Advanced Pastry Kitchen is a complete bakeshop. As such there are distinct and separate yet joined areas of production. These areas include a storage area (which is connected to the Dine and Dash Market), ware washing area, chemical storage area, mixing side station (featuring a variety of different sized mixers, from 5 qt to 60 qt mixers), a dough prep area, workstation area (with a marble topped table for pulled and blown sugar as well as chocolate), walk-in refrigerator and freezer and baking area (includes a rotary rack convection oven, deck oven, combi oven, and 1 conventional ovens topped by 6 burners). The area also relies on hand-washing stations throughout, as well as its own ice maker. Locking metro racks secure expensive small wares.
Basic Kitchens
Students are separated into teams of 3 or 4 and providing each team with a complete station, including a work table, 6 burner stove over a convection oven, access to water, grill, fryer and hand washing station. Both basics kitchens must have a chemical closet complete with floor drain and access to mop sink, reach-in refrigerators and freezers, ice machine, equipment storage area and appropriate hand washing and ware washing facilities. It is suggested that the hot lines flank the center work tables of the classroom so that an instructor, working at a demo table (to include under-counter reach-in, grill and 4-burner stove top) can provide both theory and hands-on demonstration during class activities.
Standard Classrooms
Academic and theory related classes form a major component of the program. We have four classrooms. One of these classrooms is reserved for the Travel and Tourism Department. Each of the remaining three classrooms are standard classrooms featuring student seating for up to 15, an instructors desk, white board and chalk board and pull down screens. The hallway that connects the four classrooms is flanked by rows of lockers the length of the hallway to meet student storage needs as they go about their daily activities.
Commissary
The receiving and storage area secures program inventory by being located in a separate and secured area. All items needed for the lab kitchens are requisitioned on a regular basis and then distributed as needed. The area consists of the receiving kitchen which contains a work station, two compartment produce sink with garbage disposal, 3-5 prep carts, 14 shelving units for dry goods, 2 door reach-in unit for specialty foods, a receiving table and scales, restroom facility, 2 locking metro cabinets, and an office for the lab assistants. The area further features hand-washing stations throughout, a minimum of 4 speed racks(for delivery of food items to the various labs), ice block maker, refrigerated dairy walk-in, refrigerated produce walk-in, walk-in freezer and a second, larger walk-in freezer with one glass wall to serve as an ice carving studio. Each of the walk-ins has shelving. The area also houses a general culinary storage area, laundry and linen room and storage as well as a chemical storage and closet with floor drain.
Student Culinary Services Kitchen
The Student Culinary Services (SCS) Kitchen provides a preparation area for the SCS Manager and students to work from to facilitate catered events and production related to the SCS program as a whole. The area features a dry storage, a walk-in refrigerator and freezer, ice machine, chemical closet and hot line (which features a single bin fryer, grill, and 12 top stove with convection ovens underneath. Three 6 feet by 2.5 foot stainless steel tables are used as workstations during production. A three compartment sink as well as two hand washing sinks are used as well. Finally, a mobile proofing box as well as a refrigerated reach-in is used for production and storage of food items.
Offices
A hallway joining the receiving and storage area directly to the main artery of the program is used to facilitate the movement of product from receiving and storage to the kitchens. Along this hallway will be the offices for the faculty and staff, as well as a conference area adjacent to the Demo/Test Kitchen. These offices total 5 in number with one each for each full time instructor, one office for adjunct faculty and one office for the SCS Manager. The conference room seats 8 to 10 and will feature a media cabinet with side tables. Underneath one side table is a small reach-in refrigerator, and space on top of the counter for presentation materials. The other side table serves as a coffee/tea station with all the needed items for such stored underneath in the cabinet.
Demonstration/Test Kitchen
As part of our objective in working with outside entities in the food service industry, we have partnered with Sysco Foods. Through this partnership, EPCC provides the build out for the Demonstration/Test Kitchen and Sysco Foods will provide the equipment. As a result, Sysco uses the area on a scheduled basis to present production alternatives to area restaurant owners on a regular basis. The Culinary Program uses the Demonstration/Test Kitchen for evening Continuing Education Classes as well as demonstrations when the area is not in use by Sysco Foods.
The area features a dry storage area next to a chemical closet. The Demonstration/Test Kitchen also has a hot prep kitchen located directly behind the demonstration line which is on a raised stage area approximately 8 inches off the ground. The front area of the demonstration area showcases products demonstrated on a raised counter with an adjoining lower counter/bar area for guests to sit at. The area seats 8 comfortably and provide an overview of the demonstration on 3 plasma television monitors located strategically throughout the room. The line itself features high-end production equipment. All equipment used in the area is provided by Sysco Foods. The walls of the area directly adjacent to passage ways are glassed and seating areas featuring sofas and casual chairs with end tables are placed near the walls — all with a view to the demonstration area.
The Culinary Resource Center
Features a computer lab coupled with a culinary library where students can relax outside of class and pursue research for assignments. The area utilizes 12 computer stations with access to the web, a video monitoring station for review of past demonstrations, and a series of book cases featuring texts on cooking and related topics.
THIRTEENO9
The restaurant serves as the laboratory environment for the service classes, including A la Carte, Advance Food Prep, Practicum I and II. It consists of a dining area that seats 34, has a minimum of two side stations, one host stand and one unisex restroom. The area is glassed so that outside visitors can see the activities taking place in the dining room. The A la Carte Kitchen includes ware washing for both equipment and service ware. It features a chemical closet complete with mop sink and appropriate chemicals for cleanup of the lab. There is also a walk in refrigerator and freezer, dry storage racks, equipment storage, and dining room storage areas are needed. An adjacent catering storage area, with separate access from a service hallway is housed in this general area. The lab includes the hot service line, two prep areas; one hot, one cold, and an ice machine. This is needed to facilitate flow of food as well as traffic flow throughout the service portions of the kitchen. At least one wall of the kitchen is glassed so that visitors can watch activities as they occur within the lab.
Dine'N'Dash
The Dine'N'Dash Outlet is a concept designed to deliver product made during lab instruction to the general public for a low fee. The concept is to recapture revenues used to facilitate instruction and provide the general population with low cost, quality baked goods and prepared food items. The area is relatively small, but will feed directly out to the mall area of the “B” Building. This design is based on similar types of establishments found in a typical food court of an outlet shopping mall. The area includes a service counter, complete with under counter refrigeration; refrigerated display case; back bar, complete with slicer, Panini grill, and pizza oven; cashier stand; and a customer side station featuring a soda fountain and microwave. Ideally, the area includes bread racks as well as merchandising shelves for goods that the club and SCS organization wish to sell.