We all know the gelato making process (if done right) is very engaging and cool for customers to see.
In our shops I opted for a very large window where our customers can peek in and see how we are working and look at our chefs blending and extracting the gelato right from the machine.
All this creates a “cool factor” and can help you tremendously spreading the word about your from scratch process and quality, local ingredients etc. Your kitchen becomes a very powerful marketing/advertising tool to not underestimate..if done right!
I think there are 2 ways we can achieve this "cool/engaging" factor in our store:
Glass Kitchen/Large window in your production area
This is probably the easier way to do it as you already have the kitchen or need one.Keep in mind a few things:
the kitchen must always be very clean and in order if your customers are going to look into it (I deliver to many restaurants, and looking at the kitchen can give you a good idea on how management really cares)
the product & ingredients you use must really match your marketing and communication: you cannot say it's made from scratch with local and organic ingredients and all you do is cutting bags of powders and opening tin cans of pre-made flavorings. We don't have anything to hide, so no problem here!
Make sure your staff is well trained in gelato making and knows how to properly showcase the process start to finish.
your staff must feel comfortable being looked at a lot and happy to wave back or return a smile to your customers.
all your staff must always follow all sanitary procedures and proper dress code because they are basically on display - proper training is needed (and always should be needed anyway)
Basically you are opening a sensitive area of your business to your customer's scrutiny and this can work to your advantage...or not.
Moving gelato production in the front of the house or special area
This is what Matt wanted to do.
In large locations, or places where gelato making is not the only or main part of the business (like multi-level restaurants, big deli shops, food stores..) you can certainly thinking of "separating" the gelato production area from the regular kitchen area. This will normally help you keeping it cleaner, cooler and you'll have the opportunity to showcase the process. What we just said before is valid here as well, but in this situation we have a few more things to consider:
always keep the area indoor, in a climate controlled environment (low humidity, possibly air conditioned if needed).
can you run to the area all the proper electric and water or plumbing connections? Can you place floor drains in? Can you place an additional air conditioner if needed?
Can you install sinks, maybe even a dishwasher?
Make sure is behind glass and properly separated from the general public (follow your local health code)
this could be a good place for an old school vertical gelato machine (take a look at this article to learn more about different batch freezers) where extracting the gelato is truly an art and beautiful to watch..if done correctly (again, training is very important or you'll have the opposite effect).
make sure is large enough to store all your ingredients, supplies and tools (it would be very inefficient if the gelato chef had to run to the kitchen all the time). You'll also need refrigeration and freezers.
These are some considerations to make before you dive into your project. As always good planning saves time, money and headaches down the road amici!
Hopefully this was helpful & valuable amici!
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A presto amici!
Vincenzo