Lighting the way

Proper lighting can greatly improve the efficiency of kitchen and food prep areas

Sanitation, safety, production and presentation are the templates for a well-functioning food preparation area, according to Megan Carroll, specification marketing consultant for Philips Lighting in Somerset, N.J. "The appropriate color rendition of the light output and shadowless light that penetrates down to work surfaces are essential elements in supporting a profitable food service operation," she says.

The current foot-candle level preference for food prep kitchens ranges from 50 to 100 to portray the food accurately from the beginning to the end of the preparation and cooking process. "Peak-performance lighting puts food colors in the correct perspective. Chefs need to judge the rate of cooking by the appearance of the components," Carroll notes.

Architects, lighting designers and kitchen consultants who treat kitchen lighting as both a science and an art stress that the illumination is inherent in the initial planning of the space, not an afterthought. Kenneth D. Schimpf, director of design services at New York City-based food facilities design consultants Pascoe-Jacobs Associates Inc., initially prepares mechanical and electrical plans and submits then to the architect. He then reviews reflective ceiling plans and points out potential problems. He regularly looks for indications that lighting will be placed under wall-mounted cabinets or shelves. Food preparation, he explains, involves peeling, slicing, dicing and cutting operations, both by machine and by hand. These are obviously hazardous, and lighting for safety must be a strong consideration.

LIGHT FOR SORE EYES

Eyestrain is a widespread occupational hazard in the food preparation industry, says Mark Stech-Novak. whose Oakland, Calif.-based firm, Restaurant Consultation & Design, is a leading high-end kitchen planning and design resource.

"We put task lighting under all shelving above the counters," he points out, adding that "Our requirements are very specific for the lighting in the hoods we design."

Ranking dose to the top of the list of restaurant kitchen concerns is lowering the heat level and thereby reducing the HVAC load. "The heat in a kitchen is astonishing, even in those that are well-ventilated," says Warren Ashworth of Bogdanau Partners, Architects, New York-based restaurant design specialists. He finds that some chefs want the same color-corrected fluorescent lighting in the kitchen as there is in the dining room. The solution, Ashworth advises, is warm-white fluorescent rated at 3000[degrees]K, a non-glare source that is closest to the actual food color.

"Fluorescent lamps are cooler and feel cooler," he says. Ashworth often specifies Edison Price Lighting's flush-mounted fixtures, super Lenslux 226/8 recessed compact fluorescent lensed downlight, with 8-inch aperture designed for use with two 26-watt, 4-pin compact fluorescent lamps and a regressed acrylic, patterned lens. "This fixture is particularly applicable for lighting kitchens when the ceiling is below 10 feet," he adds.

Ashworth will use incandescent lamps over hoods where 150-watt lamps enclosed in jelly jars are acceptable. "And don't put tungsten halogen in the pastry area; it throws off too much heat," he warns.

Lighting designer Paul Gregory of Focus Lighting, New York, recently completed the lighting of three restaurants designed by the Rockwell Group. For Emeril's Restaurant, New Orleans, the Expo Kitchen has Plexiglas boxes in the arch over the counter area, filled with herbs and spices and backlit with fluorescent lamps with neutral density filters to reduce glare and balance light levels. A surface-mounted track behind the arch holds 50-watt MR16 track fixtures downlighting the countertop. Working areas in the kitchen are lit with recessed, lensed PAR 38 downlights in areas that are visible from the dining room, with 2-foot by 2-foot recessed fluorescent troffer in non-visible areas.

At the Sushi Bar at Ruby Foos in New York's Upper West Side, recessed MR16 pinhole downlights are on 2-foot centers. Over the working area PAR, 38 recessed downlights boost light levels for the chefs. In the Samba Grill at the Mirage Hotel. Las Vegas, Gregory concealed track-mounted MR16 spot lamps to concentrate light on the work surfaces and feature the chef, while preventing too much light from spilling out into the dining areas.

Professionals from all branches of kitchen and lighting design agree on the importance of controlling maintenance expense. The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) recommends that in areas such as bakeries and dishwashing areas that have inherent dust or moister conditions, enclosed dust-proof or vapor-tight luminaires be used. Fluorescent luminaires located directly over food storage, preparation, service or display areas should be fitted with plastic sleeve protectors to prevent glass from falling into the food in case of breakage.

Combating glare

While adequately illuminated work surfaces make for a productive kitchen, glare on these same surfaces does not. IESNA offers this advice to control glare.

* Large brightness variations in the visual field reduce visibility. IESNA says that gasketed damp-labeled luminaires are preferable to exposed lamps in direct luminaires for most food preparation areas.

* Although glare can be controlled in the direct luminaires by effective shielding of the lamps, indirect or direct-indirect lighting is another recommended option because it turns the entire ceiling into a large, low-brightness area source.

* For horizontal surfaces such as tabletops and equipment tops in kitchens, matte or brushed finishes minimize reflected glare that contributes to discomfort and fatigue.

* Lighting near specular surfaces, such as mirrored ceilings or glazed walls, must be very carefully planned to avoid unintended reflections of source lighting.

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