as a means to reduce the project cost, ssa and the design team were tasked with developing solutions which would materially reduce the budget. ssa created the idea of eliminating several live fuel cooking station which required a lot of support equipment as well as a of labor to execute service. ssa's solution was a large bespoke rotisserie which could be operated by just a few people and would have the ability to produce large quantities of product. an original concept sketch created by ssa's ken schwartz was accepted and the concept was brought to life with the collaborative design effort of ssa's david hensel and ken schwartz. the unit was fabricated by emjac industries. 

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design data:

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 - two story, three compartment rotisserie
 - whole animal compartment
 - capacity: 1,000 lbs/454 kilos
 - one skewer, 3.5" diameter 
 - two story revolving product compartment
 - 19 rotating + revolving skewers
 - capacity 116 chickens
 - single story rotating product compartment
 - capacity 22 chickens
 - 14,000 lbs/6,350 kilos [weight]
 - 500,000 btu's turbo/infrared burner system [gas consumption]

 - $240,000 usd [cost]

envisioning a solution usually reveals other challenges. ssa designed an open display kitchen concept. a part of the program and scope was for the kitchen to serve ala carte meals most days of the week and serve large events 15-20 times per year. the ala carte element required saute station while the program for events included cooking for 700-1,000 people at a time. 

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ssa, along with the client, determined the event menu would most often include a seafood boil selection. ssa worked on a convertible solution which would allow for both types of cooking. the solution was large induction heated boiling pots for events and induction saute stations for ala carte service. ssa designed three seafood boiling stations which included custom designed 18"x48" boiling pots with tangent draw off drains, lifting hooks and perforated drain baskets. the station which was fabricated out of heavy duty stainless steel to hold three boiling pots (live load: 1,600 lbs/pot) included a hydraulic spring loaded floating platform for the induction ranges to insure constant contact with the boiling pots without damaging the induction units from the working weight of the pots. boiling station and induction pots fabricated by emjac industries. 

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design data:

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 - fabricated 48" diameter stainless steel pots
 - cap. 144 gals/545 ltrs
 - three induction stations
 - fabricated cooking counter
 - cap. 4,800 lbs/2,177 kilos

 - $74,000 usd [cost]

with so many restaurants incorporating a robust wine program, ssa has become one of the premier wine room, wine display design firms. for this project ssa collaborated with the design team to develop the size of shape for this floor to ceiling wine display (background, fabricated by emjac industries). the arching wine display separates the main dining room from the tapas bar by creating this cohesive design element. the unit includes a temperature controlled room for wine white wines and champagnes with a temperature controlled section for red wines. 

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ssa also collaborated with the interior designer to develop a salad station to act as the restaurant's centerpiece. the boat shaped salad bar (fabricated by emjac industries) utilizes both cold wall and passive forced air system to maintain temperature. the salad station include a breath guard over structure, a bread station and a cheese station. 

 

design data:

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 - custom granite salad bar
 - boat shaped design
 - dynamic passive air flow system
 - 16 ft/4.8 meters long

 - $37,000 usd [cost]

 - curved wine display vault
 - glass + chipped stone
 - 4,000 bottle capacity
 - 24 ft/7 meters long x 8ft/2.4 meters wide

 - $82,000 usd [cost]

often during the design process, even following a robust programming phase, there seem to be a lack of usable, necessary space. ssa develops projects utilization the latest 3d modelling software providing the client with the opportunity to completely visualize the operation. as part of the design process ssa typically considers and develops solutions which take advantage of the able vertical space. this is not only a cost effective and efficient solution but these solutions create theater and functional operational efficiencies. 

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this heated, revolving display was designed utilizing the stone counter finish as specified by the design team interior designer. ssa then developed a design which resulted in super heated stone shelves with high temperature display lights. this solution created a challenge relative to creating a need to have the revolving shelves energized with both 120 volts (lights) and 208 volts (shelf heating system).  ssa identified the challenge and created a solution which resulted in the display being built by emjac industries with a drive system located below the counter and the unit fabricated from glass and polished stainless steel for ease of cleaning and maintenance.

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design data:

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 - granite, glass + polished stainless   steel revolving heated display

 - 110/208v [power to shelves]

 - $38,000 usd [cost]

ssa takes great pride in providing a high level of collaboration with the client and the design team. we were approached to help design a pacific rim restaurant which included crescent moon shaped teppanyaki  grill stations, a custom sushi bar (background), a heated granite lined duck display and an interactive cooking booths with built-in korean barbecue and shabu shabu. 

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ssa worked with the interior design team to develop a custom designed and fabricated (by emjac industries) serpentine sushi bar. ssa worked with the fabricator in creating the curved arching serpentine glass refrigerated display for the sushi bar. additionally, ssa utilized the interior designer's concept images for the interactive cooking booths and designed integral cooking stations which incorporated a built-in gas korean grill (fabricated by jade range) with custom forge arching grill grate and an induction burner hidden below the glass table top for shabu cooking. the grill and induction unit were fabricated into the table base/structure (by emjac industries) and finished on site by the millwork contractor. ssa designed the table so the controls could be located at the server's end of the table. 

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design data:

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 - interactive dining tables (foreground)

 - gas fired custom korean bbq cooking
 - induction shabu pot

 - $19,000 usd each [cost]

 - serpentine sushi counter (background)

 - 36 feet/11 meters long
 - compound curved serpentine glass

 - $110,000 usd [cost]

ssa was engaged to assist with the design of a brazilian restaurant. the client wanted to add theater and functionality and challenged ssa to develop a solution. collaborating with the interior design and the client's director of food and beverage, ssa presented a concept of live cooking pits with rotating skewer of various meats and vegetables within the dining room to evoke authenticity and freshness. ssa designed a round fire pit utilizing a custom fabricated round gas char-broiler with vanity flame (fabricated by jade range) housed in the ssa designed revolving top with with rotating skewers (housing, revolving elements and rotating skewers were fabricated by emjac industries). 

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in order to insure staff always had access to fresh, properly cooked product to serve guests, ssa and the design team located the fire pits along a service corridor finished with rusted "boiler room looking" doors so the fire pits could be replenished from behind. the kitchen included a multilevel churasco grill to allow finishing skewered product to 90% with the finishing occurring in the fire pits. the fire pits included powder coated exhaust hoods (by halton) with fabricated steel frame and flame cut, rusted corten facade panels (by emjac industries)

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design data:

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 - revolving top
 - rotating skewers
 - lava rock fire pit
 - four fire pits installed

 - $48,000 usd each [cost]