Just to add, when trying to imagine how one could thrive or even survive in such a state, I thought - hmm, just about any meat, from bacon to duck, slider to pork belly, I could sous vide in portions, refrigerate in the vacuum bag, then when needed, decant, re-heat and brown in a pre-heated oven. Giselle (Anova APO 1.0) can do it, so her commercial NSF-listed bretheren - the Turbochefs and Rationals - surely can too.

You describe most of my kitchen. I don't have a dragon's breath range or burner. If I were getting such I thing for outside, it would more likely be a tandoori than a wok burner. This is irrelevant. Entirely.

What's code? Besides extractor hood, do you need fire suppression in it? Do you need a grease trap? That could likely be six figures.

Bookshop cafe needs coffee makers, tea makers, alternative drink maker/dispensers. It needs pastries, whether brownies or (my favorite) red bean sesame balls. The former can be made with an incandescent bulb in an easy bake oven. The latter requires frying and needs a hood at minimum and check code for the rest. Pot of oil on hotplate is probably not okay. Plus, famous for sesame balls, more flavors, specials, magic rainbow ones for Pride and tuna and bonito ones for the kitties... Grease trap and fire suppression for sure. Tuna salad sandwich for people or kitties, no problem. Steamed dim sum, probably no problem. Pan fried pot stickers, probably a problem--strong commercial hood minimum. The city might have cottage industry allowances for less than full on commercial kitchen if the food isn't central to the business plan, such as pastries. You need to check, and design the menus around the kitchens you can implement and afford, and do a deep dive into reasonably expected return, how much work must be done to at least break even, etc.

You know all this. I'm sure you do. But there's a lot of profit in vegan brownies, and the more personal you go, the more more equipment and greater risk. What you haven't said you know is what code allows for the fire breathing, and what the expense of all the accoutrements will be.

I just had a thought. For starting, if it's coffee and, and again depending on code, a cute concept would be to make most excellent waffles using the little Dash wafflers that make one small round waffle and have all kinds of symbols and characters. Perhaps create some recipes that hold well in a warming box for the rush. Make a bunch of different recipes like brown butter walnut and rice krispies. It could be fun and funny. Needs a couple extra circuits, maybe, but not a hood. ;)

Yes, that all sounds like you're going in the right direction. I only know from the build out side, not the cook side, and only a bit about kitchen. Really and truly about the grease trap, but also there are so many ways around it, as you said. And I was serious about the brownies. :)

DD is more practical than I. She plans to start with a menu that is prepared ahead and can be served up with a single person running the cafe if need be. Also far more in touch with alt cuisines. Veggie/vegan options for every category, meat often on the side or as an add-on. Has food cost benefits too.

I don't have any problem foregoing direct flame cooking - I don't do it now, and haven't for quite awhile. The condo where we're living now has a range hood, but it vents right back into the kitchen, so I never use it. I console myself by reminding myself all that charring isn't very healthy anyway - to eat or to breathe.

Also, FWIW, for years, I did cooking activities with our playcampers with no kitchen at all - only an electric skillet, a blender, and a single portable electric burner. I also had a large toaster oven and various microwaves, and once brought in my own Cuisinart to make peanut butter.

I have no knowledge of commercial code for restaurants, but I was surprised how many places I went to this summer (overseas) had small induction hobs. They were searing and finishing things first done sous-vide or raw (seared tuna). They may have had ventilation, but no gas service. The grill presses are ideal for a cafe, as I saw a lot of those in usage. And a few air fryers/small convection ovens. One place did have a large wood-fired domed oven where the chef worked magic, and a small induction unit for searing and reheating slow-cooked meats done earlier in the day.

I’ve pushed pannini presses from my memory, but they were very useful. I’ve known a few restaurants that managed to get by with a couple of induction burners. An electric turbo convection oven (or two) were game changers in being able to reheat food rapidly.

A 3-bowl sink is very good to have—- especially with room on each side to stack dirty and clean,

cleaning a grease trap is like unearthing a dead body,

and I would not want to deal with an under counter dish machine all day.

My mind was wandering and kept whispering "culinary ambitions". I don't know what your offspringess is currently doing, and it may be this exact thing, but when I was doing volunteer catering for an organization I belonged to, I became acquinted with food service standards. Here, for decades, there's been an online course that walks you through all the standards as approved by officialdom and by which our seminal letter grading system for restauant kitchens is implemented. You could pay for certification to print and hang on the wall, which I didn't see a need to do, but it was very informative, and gave me the knowledge to say to the others, "the county says so." Additionally, the chamber of commerce, as well as online courses, may have programs in entrepreneurship, cafe management and the like. Much easier to learn that way, rather than from dad. There are time tested things like standard percentages of ingredients and labor as part of food costs which make sure you're including overhead and profit, Also how to tell big sellers from profitable sellers, and how to spot an item that might not sell, but makes the menu more interesting, thereby boosting sales of other items, and how to cost that so it's not a loss. All that stuff. This is going to be a business, after all, and there's no point reinventing the basics. ;)

lisaam, around here an undercounter DW is but required to have a hood but larger DWs are. Hence the choice. At least until cash flow turns positive.

And the larger and more numerous the sinks, the larger the grease interceptor the city will require. I want to avoid being required to install a $20,000 underground unit!

Definitely costs that impact decisions. I needed only my main sink & dish machine to be connected to the grease trap. Is a low- temp dish machine not an option?

I’ll ask the city, or the consultant. Around here, a grease interceptor is required for an espresso station (milk). It may (or may not) be too complicated to plumb two rooms to a single interceptor. DD won’t have enough volume to need a full dish machine. An undercounter can do 30 racks an hour, which will be plenty. And it will be hard to explain why a coffee shop is installing a full dish machine.

plllog, DD is quite familiar with certain aspects of food safety inspections from her years running a kitchen and working in other kitchens. She isn’t familiar with other aspects. I have sent her a link to the local community college’s small business education center!