Though commonly referred to as cold prep stations, these areas can serve multiple functions.

While the cookline, warewashing area and expediting station live up to their descriptors, the same cannot be said for a commercial kitchen’s cold prep station. “Sometimes it’s just used for prepping produce and refrigerated items for the cookline or salad station, but it also can be [a more diverse area], such as a place for heating appetizers, butchering meat or charcuterie prep,” says Joe Grijalva, associate project manager at Cini-Little International Inc., Germantown, Md.

At Palms Casino Resort’s Laguna Pool House & Kitchen in Las Vegas, the cold prep station includes a small convection oven and fryer in addition to a panini press for preparing hot sandwiches and appetizers. “With restaurant footprints getting smaller, we need to work more efficiently,” says Luke Palladino, president of Meta-Hospitality Consultants, Las Vegas, which helped developed the restaurant. “Cold stations now require so much more.”

“Most operations don’t have the luxury of a cold room or refrigerated cold pantry, so they wind up using a common space,” says John Egnor, managing partner at JME Hospitality, a division of C&T Design and Equipment Co.

No matter the format or location, though, the overall goal of cold prep stations is to keep food in a temperature-controlled environment as long as possible.

The cold prep area in the back kitchen at Florida’s Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort centers around the walk-in and prep tables. Shelving maximizes efficiency. Photos courtesy of JME Hospitality

Critical Components

Although equipment requirements depend on the concept and menu, Egnor notes that cold prep stations typically include walk-in refrigeration; reach-in refrigeration; a worktable; drawers for utensils; at least one two-compartment sink with drainboards on both sides for washing produce; a sufficient flat work area for cutting, slicing and processing; a food processor; a 20-quart mixer; a 30-quart planetary mixer; a slicer; one or two hand sinks; and one utility sink. Add a blast chiller to that list for operators needing to store product and bring it down to temperature quickly. Operators will need to segment processed and raw product in a walk-in or in separate reach-in coolers.

“I like using the center of the area, so we’ll include one 42-inch table that is two-sided with storage,” Egnor says. “Our goal is to make this space as efficient as possible in as small an area as possible. The cold pantry is an extension of the creativity of the chef that runs it, and they will use it to their full advantage.”

The Laguna Pool House & Kitchen uses cold spaces for the garde-manger. At this station, culinary staff handle all cold items — salad, shellfish and dessert. In addition to the convection oven, fryer and panini press, this station includes freezer drawers for produce and garnishes as well as a top-loading ice cream freezer, a blender and a slicer.

“It’s important to consider access points, with door hinges where you need them,” Palladino recommends. “Also, think of space, outlets and power for other equipment like blenders and ovens as the power adds up and catches people off guard.” He likes to prepare for future needs, which heads off the frustration when adding equipment for menu changes and/or expansion.

One foodservice design goal with a cold prep area is to make the space as efficient as possible in as small of an area as possible. Michael P. Salvatore, senior director, consulting and customer engagement, Ruck-Shockey Associates, Truckee, Calif., stays true to the principle that the concept drives everything — and the menu drives the concept. “Once the concept is defined, every other decision becomes completely binary,” he says.

“A cold station typically has a cold bain-marie, a make station with roll-up lid and an array of pan shapes holding various ingredients,” Salvatore adds. “There is a cutting board strip in front and backup refrigeration underneath.”

Despite the common equipment these areas use, cold prep stations are typically not cookie cutter, even in chain concepts, as layouts and equipment depend on the available space. “The basic pieces may be there but may need to be flexed,” Salvatore says. “And there definitely has to be a lot of thought put into sanitation and safety. Operators shouldn’t skimp on good refrigeration.”

This may include allowing refrigerated space for plate chilling and salad storage. Hand sinks play a particularly important role in efficiency since cold-station staff tend to use their hands more often than those working on a cookline. “Because most of cold food prep involves touching, hand sanitizing and temperature control are key,” Salvatore says. “The only critical control point is refrigeration.”

Salvatore estimates that on average, the cold station occupies 20% to 25% of the total kitchen space, depending on the concept and its size. “If it’s a New York City pizza shop with 12 seats, you’d need no more than 2 to 3 square feet; a 500-seat restaurant with three or four people working the line would require a 20-foot-long cold station,” he says. “You’d have a person on salads, another on sandwiches, and someone shucking oysters and clams.”

Salvatore recalls designing a seafood restaurant in a New Jersey marina with two raw bars that had five employees working the cold station. “Everything was linear,” he notes. “I had hot production under the hood, and directly adjacent was the cold station; there was a cold window and heated window for pickup.”

Food safety and sanitation requirements vary, depending on the jurisdiction. “For example, in Los Angeles, if cold prep is not close to a dish room, a three-compartment sink and hand sink are required,” Grijalva says. “[In most cases], there needs to be makeup air in that space as well as storage, and we like to include as much wall shelving as possible.” He prefers to position the cold prep station as close to the walk-in as possible to minimize steps.

Logistically, cold prep most often sits right outside the walk-in, Egnor notes. “For operations with a back door, product is immediately refrigerated or put in the freezer, then goes to the cold pantry, which may combine cold and hot food prep. It then circulates to the cookline; ideally, everything flows in one direction so there is no cross traffic,” he says.

Cold prep station sizes vary greatly, and there are many ways to calculate what space the operation requires. “It depends on the volume,” Egnor notes. “If looking at square feet per seat, it’s important to add in seats at the bar and patio.”

Ad Hoc Equipment

When space is at a premium, or if the menu is more extensive, cold prep stations can become more all-encompassing. “The main cookline should focus on entrees, but we’re typically mixing in appetizers; having cooking capabilities in the cold station takes pressure off the entree line,” Palladino explains. “Having a small deep fryer for appetizers or fried desserts means I don’t have to pass these tasks on to another station. I also like to have a larger convection oven for things like skillet cookies, as well as a small convection oven.”

Palladino likes to include a well for ice cream but has also used cold wells and bain-maries. “In this area, I prefer larger, wider cutting boards since 6 to 8 inches isn’t enough. With 12 to 16 inches, I have more stability and can prep more efficiently,” he notes. “For shellfish, you want crushed ice nearby. And I put shelves everywhere for plates and supplies. If the station has a hot section, I’ll have a heat lamp by the oven.”

Along with produce prep, cold stations may fulfill other roles. “Butcher rooms would have a couple of slicers, a large band saw and room in the center for a hook to hold big slabs of meat,” Grijalva says. “A charcuterie station would have slicers and vacuum-packaging machines for grab-and-go items like meat. And more chefs are using sous vide. We did a mozzarella station in a cold room that included a custom-made water bath that heated up to a certain temperature for pulling cheese. Mozzarella then went into a cold bath in the same room and was immediately packaged.”

Depending on the concept, there may be an autonomous cold station in a different area of the back of the house. “When it comes to baking, there may be a separate area with a cold room element, such as a chocolate room that requires refrigeration and a humidifier so chocolate doesn’t interact with moisture in the air,” Grijalva says. “[This is more common in] major hotels where we see additional cold rooms.”

Salvatore notes there has been a fair amount of additions to cold stations. “I’m seeing rapid heating devices like panini presses, sandwich griddles and convection microwaves finding their way into cold stations,” he says.

When designing cold stations of late, Egnor has added equipment like undercounter blast chillers that hold one or two hotel pans for use in conjunction with vacuum sealers. “This may be an area used to cut down meats, trim steak or put fish in vacuum-sealed bags to sous vide later,” he says.

The main principle of concept drives everything holds true even in cold station design. Photos courtesy of Ruck-Shockey Associates

Functional Elements

A rule of thumb is to keep the cold station as far from the cookline as possible. “Makeup air minimizes the leaking of temperatures [from station to station],” Grijalva says. “And because items in the cold station are typically not for immediate pickup, it’s generally at an isolated position in the back of house.”

Having a separate room is ideal to ensure temperatures stay consistent, but in most cases, this is not feasible. “If there is no room for a cooler in the space, the cold station will need to be adjacent to cold storage so product isn’t taken through a tempered kitchen,” Grijalva says. “Items need to be kept cold; that’s the goal of this space.”

To ensure as few steps as possible are necessary to work the station, all its elements should be in as close proximity as possible. “Everything should be compact, and I like to set up the station vertically,” Salvatore says. “Staff should be able to hit every point in the station merely by pivoting.”

It’s important not to over or under build. “You need to store enough product at the station to get through at least one meal period without restocking,” Salvatore recommends. “This allows workers to concentrate on the task at hand without stopping to restock.”

This is not always easy with today’s shrinking kitchens resulting in space constraints. “The main storage space may need to be in the basement,” Salvatore says. “In that case, you need to build enough storage and safe cold holding.”

In smaller-volume operations, the cold pantry is reserved only for production prep. “In this case, one side has coolers for cold production, while the [cookline on the other side] has a hood for hot production, and they meet in the middle,” Egnor says. “There may be a separate pantry or support area for the cold kitchen that has cooking capabilities for supporting breakfast.”

The cold station is the first point of contact in prepping since most items used to create center-of-the-plate entrees are processed in this station. “It supports hot and cold menu items, basically handling the entire menu,” Egnor says.