My wife and I had a great dining experience at a tapas restaurant that had a unique layout. The inside of the restaurant had no walls and you could clearly watch the entire kitchen from food prep to dish washing from our table. The small staff of 9 people had set up such a Lean system and I was fascinated by their process.

What I first noticed is there was no dish washer, at least not someone dedicated to washing dishes like you would find in most establishments. Instead staff bused their own tables and loaded washing racks themselves. Bartenders cleared areas at the bar and put their items directly into a washing rack. And the two chefs dropped their items directly into a rack they shared with the wait staff. Whoever filled the rack pushed it into the dishwasher and unloaded the previous rack. During our dinner I saw servers, chefs, bartenders and even the host wash dishes.

The secret to making this system work was 2-fold. First a compact kitchen that eliminated wasted motion and transportation. Other than staff bringing items back into the kitchen nothing was more than a step away. All clean items went in storage either directly above the clean rack or directly behind it in reach of the chefs. Second there was no ego or avoidance of the task. Most racks were pushed in with plenty of space left on them which tells me that everyone accepts this task willingly.

In addition to being cross trained on how to wash dishes staff also shared the tasks of bringing out food when it came up. Instead of bringing water to your table several times they left a bottle of water for you to use to refill your glass. All of these efficiencies led to a very pleasant dining experience because of the staff’s customer first approach they have eliminated many of the things that do not add value to the experience and instead focused on making the best food with the best ingredients and serving it just when you wanted it.