Savoy Bar & Grill, Albuquerque, N.M.

Fitting the heavy-duty equipment in the 1,800-square-foot kitchen, just a fraction of the 10,000-square-foot footprint, presented the most pressing challenge for designers at this high-end “chophouse” of sorts that opened earlier this year.

By Donna Boss, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 6/1/2007

High expectations accompanied Keith and Kevin Roessler to Savoy Bar & Grill, their newest restaurant venture in the fast-growing city of Albuquerque, N.M. Their other two local restaurants, Zinc Wine Bar Bistro and Seasons Rotisserie Grill, earned solid reputations and a loyal following.

The Roessler brothers and their Savoy partners, Bob Peterson, also the restaurant's executive chef, and Lynn Devejian and Catarhina Forsting, positioned Savoy as notably more upscale than its sister establishments. "Savoy is like a chophouse, a blend between a steakhouse and a seafood restaurant. Yet we wanted the price point to be approachable for this level of quality," Keith Roessler says. The average per-person check is between $30 and $40. Entrée prices include side dishes.

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"In order to produce this high-end menu, heavy-duty equipment was positioned throughout the back- and exhibition-style kitchens," Peterson says. In order to maximize efficiency and maintain high standards, he adds, product flow and impeccable sanitation also were top priorities.

"The owners set a high standard from the beginning," says Jim Lawrentz, kitchen designer, National Restaurant Supply, an El Paso, Texasbased dealership. "They are very critical of what they do, so in turn I had to be very critical of what could work for them here. We had some distinct obstacles, such as keeping the existing hood and placing all the equipment we needed in this space while keeping ample aisle width throughout the kitchen."

The owners selected a site in a well-to-do Albuquerque neighborhood for their ambitious third venture. They nearly gutted an existing restaurant, YesterDave's, to transform the space into a sophisticated, yet unpretentious dining establishment featuring "wine-friendly" California cuisine.

"Wine-friendly" describes the combination of food that is well-paired with a wide variety of wines. Wine is an integral component of the concept in part due to the family connection: The Roessler brothers' father and uncle own a vineyard in Sonoma, Calif. While Keith runs operations and financials, Kevin serves as Savoy's wine manager.

"Though the first month was bumpy as staff settled into the fine-dining concept, and the winter months brought severe weather, traffic has been phenomenal," Keith Roessler says, referring to the weekly average customer count of 2,000.

Inside the restaurant, high ceilings extending up to 15 feet cover the entryway where a hostess stand displays breathtaking fresh flowers. To the left, walls of glass-encased, refrigerated wine cubbies form the 25-seat tasting room, which further emphasizes the restaurant's theme. On Saturday afternoons from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m., a quiet time at Savoy, guests participate in wine tastings. If participants like the wines, they can buy bottles and cases.

To the right, a 45-seat bar and lounge provides a comfortable setting for drinks and appetizers with its brown suede-colored walls. The lounge leads to a 60-seat, vine-covered patio with teak furniture, a fireplace and firepits, all of which adds 5,000-square-feet to the restaurant's 10,000-square-foot space. A fiberglass awning that lets in light will enhance the customers' dining experience during warm months. The owners expect to introduce live music at least one night a week and further develop the patio and bar menu.

Straight ahead and to the left of the hostess station, a 140-seat, elegant main dining room generates an open, airy ambiance with its yellow- and green-colored walls, bright-colored accents and slatted wood pendants hanging over the sage green suede and brown leather banquettes. Dark wood further accentuates the earthtone palette. Black and white photographs of wine country hang throughout the dining room. "We wanted the restaurant to feel open and inviting," says Devejian, who directs Savoy's interior design.

A semi-private room with a fireplace holds up to 36 guests. Natural light streams in from large windows on three sides and three skylights set in the 25-foot-high ceilings. The Napa Room seats up to 50 guests and features audio-visual drop-down equipment that contributes to its attraction for private parties and meetings.

The 1,800-square-foot kitchen sits close to the center of the restaurant. Deliveries come into the back of the kitchen six days a week. Staff check products in, wash ingredients and store them in a walk-in cooler. One section of the cooler holds chilled wines, while the remainder contains food ingredients and prepared food that must be held in a cold environment. Two double-door, reachin freezers also hold menu items, housemade ice cream and sorbet. "We want to keep our usage of frozen foods at a minimum," Peterson says.

Staff prep all menu items in the morning for the day's service. In the pastry station, staff work on a six-foot maple pastry table and use small mixers and various mixing bowls to make pastries, such as almond-coffee mousse cake and praline chocolate torte. Double-stacked convection ovens bake pastries, doughs and some vegetables, as well as toast nuts.

A 60-quart mixer in this area kneads bread dough and whips butter and mashed potatoes.

Breads, including sweet onion and rosemary foccaccia, as well as shrimp and other flatbreads, bake in a wood-fired oven, which stores oak wood beneath the door. It stands in the back corner of the prep kitchen and is also visible from the dining room.

"We want to create our own bread and give customers such a strong impression when they receive the bread at their table that they will want to come back," Peterson says. Eventually, Savoy will supply bread for the other restaurants.

Adjacent to the convection ovens sits a versatile combi oven that staff use for roasting prime rib and steaming vegetables. "Products prepared in combis don't lose yield because they don't dry out," Peterson says. "This was a marriage of convenience for us."

Along a nearby wall, a 72-inch pizza prep table holds mise en place for the roasted shellfish platter and other appetizer and menu items. Staff have easy access to a nearby worktable with a blender, food processor for sauces and fruit purees and a meat slicer.

Staff use a six-burner range in the back kitchen for reduction sauces and menu items for private parties. A steam kettle cooks stocks, soups and mashed potatoes.

On the opposite side of a divider wall sits the display hot line, which is visible to customers. "This area is about 18 feet long by 12 feet wide," Lawrentz says. "Because we had to use the existing hood space, this area is extremely tight. There might be as many as four people working in this area, so the cooking system must be precise in every way. No one can cross over another person."

On the one hand, Lawrentz refers to this area as the "war zone," but admits that watching the staff maneuver in the space is like "watching a beautiful ballet."

When working with an existing space, finding unknown challenges tends to be typical, Lawrentz admits. "For instance, we found that there was a problem with the original hood because it wasn't located where it was positioned on the plan," Lawrentz says. "The hood took up aisle space and the area where customers pick up food had to be redesigned. The hot food and refrigerated units had to be relocated to the back wall. Also, the owners wanted to use the existing walk-in and keep the position of the restrooms, so this cut into the kitchen space."

The decision to use heavy-duty equipment to meet the restaurant's anticipated volume also affected the allocation of floor space and equipment positioning. "We had to depend on the equipment's reliability because the kitchen is so tight and small around the food prep areas," Lawrentz says. "If there is failure on any one piece of equipment, the staff have a major problem." The heavy-duty equipment items used presented a design challenge because these items tend to be deeper than comparable units. And this made it difficult to maintain a minimum aisle width of 42 inches.

In the kitchen, finding the right spot for the ice cream freezer became an ordeal because it had to be located so it wouldn't be affected by the highheat equipment.

At one end of the cookline, a radiant broiler sizzles Savoy specialties such as truffle-roasted prime flat-iron steak, dry-aged prime New York Steak and filet mignon, as well as lamb rack and pork porterhouse. Staff use the sixburner range for preparing side dishes and sauces.

A reach-in cooler holds ingredients cooks will need during preparation. A pass-thru window that contains a 72-inch cheesemelter links the back kitchen with the front exhibition kitchen. In addition to holding food at a warm temperature, the cheesemelter also keeps plates warm.

A six-burner range with a convection oven is the primary sauté station for making pasta dishes and searing salmon and ahi tuna. Staff make pasta with an electric pasta maker in the back kitchen.

Two fryers prepare fried chicken and french fries for lunch and garnishes for dinner. "We prefer equipment without a lot of electric controls," Peterson says.

In the corner of the prep area resides the woodfired oven, which, in addition to baking breads, prepares hearth-roasted vegetables, goat cheese for an appetizer wrapped in prosciutto and served with cranberry chutney, roast duck and shellfish for the distinctive roasted seafood platter.

A prep table for dessert production and some salads and mise en place sits nearby. A remote reach-in cooler stores salad ingredients and mise en place.

Mechanical logistics presented additional challenges in the open kitchen because absolute precision was needed. "For example, we had some difficulty getting the refrigeration lines in for remote refrigeration," Lawrentz says. "They had to be brought in through a back corner and run through the wall and come out in areas that we designed into the counter where electrical refrigeration and plumbing lines came in. Once the counter is set, you can't pull it up to make adjustments. This is the kind of major challenge I enjoy."

Remote cooling was essential, Peterson says, in order to save space and protect equipment. "Unfortunately, compressors sometimes fail in the harsh kitchen environment," he adds. "Placing them remotely on the roof keeps them clean and cool, as well as gives us more room and less noise and heat on the line."

The main portion of the exhibition line consists of three cold prep tables and a holding table with a two-well steam table for sauces and mashed potatoes and soup.

Around a corner from the hot cookline is a stainless- steel table for dessert prep with a drop-in ice cream freezer. A pick-up counter is attached. "Part of the flow design had to ensure that the flow between the aisle to the right of the cooking area had to work with the pick-up and dessert area so very little staff pick-up is in the dining room area," Lawrentz says.

Peterson likes the kitchen's efficiency and the fact that it's easy to clean. "It is compact and we can produce items quickly," he says. "And, it's easy to clean because the equipment is sitting on curbs and the fryers are on casters. This is the first kitchen I worked in where everything is seamless. Equipment is placed so there are no gaps between equipment and no food particles can accumulate on the floor or between pieces of equipment."

In the bar and lounge kitchen, staff offer guests a much smaller food selection than in the other dining areas. A new hood was purchased for the lounge kitchen to cover a charbroiler and two fryers. A pizza prep table also sits in this section.

Though change can often improve a restaurant, Savoy owners must be cautious about which adjustments to make. After only three months in operation, a local reviewer awarded the restaurant three-anda- half stars out of four. With such a fine start, the owners' and kitchen designers' decision to equip for long-term growth may well prove to be a sensible expression of wisdom.