NSFW

We're learning all sorts of things about how to build a restaurant. Frankly, we're total beginners, so most of the rules and regulations are new to us. We found out what (and what not) to put on your kitchen floor, how to handle ventilation, the rules about restrooms, and what you're allowed to put on the walls.

Then there's the small issue of equipment. Kitchens that serve food to the public have to follow all sorts of city, county, state, and federal regulations. You can do whatever you want in your own personal kitchen -- sacrifice goats over an open fire in the middle of the floor if you want to -- but the minute you hand out food to paying customers everything changes.

The first code word you learn is NSF: the National Sanitary Foundation. NSF approval is required for every appliance or significant gadget in the kitchen. That means the stove, ovens, refrigerator, freezer, ice maker  -- even the can opener -- has to be NSF-approved. At home, you can buy the fanciest Sub Zero fridge or the biggest Viking stove in the world, but you still can't use them in a restaurant. Only NSF-approved appliances are permitted, and they're not available at Home Depot.

NSF might as well stand for Nothing but Stainless Fabrication. There are no good-looking NSF appliances; they're all made from stainless steel and pretty thoroughly charm-impaired. Given the current trend for stainless steel appliances everywhere, they look very modern and fit right in. No Harvest Gold or Avocado Green here. NSF also stipulates that all the surfaces be washable, there are no corners to trap crud, and that everything is lifted 6" off the floor. Speaking as a restaurant customer, that's probably a good thing. But as a buyer, it's a nuisance.

Fortunately, there's a thriving and competitive market for restaurant appliances (hope springs eternal), so we had lots of choices. There's even a full-on restaurant supply store just a few miles away from us, and that was our obvious starting point. Unfortunately, the guy running the store doesn't seem interested in actually selling anything. He'd ignore phone calls, miss appointments, and generally just blow us off every chance he got. We asked around a bit, and heard similar stories from other potential buyers. He's apparently got a wide reputation for being difficult to deal with, and no one knows how he stays in business. So scratch the "shop local" angle.

Next-nearest are the Bay Area suppliers serving San Francisco, Oakland, Napa, and nearby areas. There were a lot of those, selling both new and used (failure springs eternal) appliances. We didn't mind the shopping expeditions, but thankfully they've all discovered the Internet and had great online catalogs. And once you start shopping online, you might as well cast your net wider and start looking at stores all across the country, right? On the other hand, shipping an 800-pound commercial range across the country can get really expensive. Local is still better.

Long story short, we found what we wanted at a San Francisco warehouse that had great service, cheap(ish) shipping, and competitive prices. Best of all, their truck drivers would actually bring the appliances into the house. Everyone else drops their deliveries at the curb, so moving them into the kitchen would be our problem. That was a deal-breaker, so these guys got the business.

Several months ago, Kathy and I smoothed out a dirt ramp alongside our garage, in anticipation of this very day. That gave us (and more importantly, the delivery people) a smooth transition from the street, up the driveway, up the ramp, into the backyard -- no steps. Then I used a sheet of thick plywood to build a temporary ramp over the back steps, eliminating the last few bumps into the kitchen. Result: we'll get our appliances delivered inside instead of left sitting outside at the curb.

Now with everything in place, it's time to sit by the window and wait for the delivery truck...