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Five steps. Each one solves the problem you have right now — and shows you the next problem before it costs you money.
Built from 25 years designing and equipping commercial kitchens
Mark T. Larsen · Restaurants, university dining, ghost kitchens · About Mark →
Step 1
Free
Why you need it: Twenty quick questions across menu, space, utilities, budget, and timing. Score yourself in ten minutes and find out — before you spend a dollar — whether you're actually ready to buy equipment.
Most people score lower than they expect. Every point you miss is a question the next step walks you through in depth.
Step 2
$19
limited time · regularly $29
Why you need it: 76 pages that cover buying NEW and USED commercial equipment: the 25 questions every buyer must answer, needs vs. wants sorting, utility checks, true installed costs, used-equipment risk, warranties, and a final go / no-go scorecard.
You finish knowing WHAT to buy. Then every buyer hits the same wall: where does it all go? That's layout design — the next step.
Get the Workbook →Step 3
$147
Why you need it: The design method, distilled: the eight functional zones of a commercial kitchen, food-flow layout principles, clearance and spacing rules, utility planning matrices, and to-scale planning templates — plus a worked example from a real project.
Your plan is on paper. Then the bids arrive: three dealers, four formats, none of them apples-to-apples. Reviewing bids is a skill of its own.
Step 4
$495
Why you need it: Learn to review bid packages and equipment quotes yourself: normalize quotes into an apples-to-apples matrix, spot freight, install, and spec gotchas, and know when a 'deal' isn't one. Includes the same review framework used on real projects.
Prefer a professional set of eyes? Two done-for-you review services are coming: Quick Quote Review ($295) and Full Bid Package Review ($995).
Step 5
$9,995
complete 10-module course
Why you need it: You've bought right, designed right, and reviewed bids. This is the complete profession: ten modules covering commercial kitchen design, codes and standards (NFPA 96, NSF/ANSI, FDA Food Code, ASHRAE), estimating, and real case studies — the full framework, start to finish.
This is where the path ends: you become the expert others hire.
See the Course →Ask questions, share wins, and trade notes with other owners and operators — at every step of the path.
Join Club 86 — Free →For kitchen professionals: your hands-on experience, translated into a professional resume that hiring managers in new industries understand.
Build Your Resume →Kitchen management software for the daily work of running the room you just built.
See MenuIQ →If you're about to buy equipment, start where every buyer should: the Workbook.
Get the Workbook — $19 →