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“The most important thing is that a ContekPro kitchen is designed for efficiency."
— Pierre-Marie Leprince, VP of Culinary & Dining Services, Front Porch
As senior living dining evolves toward more hospitality-driven, restaurant-quality experiences, operators face growing pressure to modernize kitchens without disrupting residents’ daily routines. Industry trends show that senior communities are increasingly investing in upgraded culinary programs to meet higher resident expectations and competitive standards.
At Casa de Mañana in La Jolla, Front Porch needed to expand capacity and modernize its kitchen to align with these new dining expectations without pausing daily food service for residents.
To achieve this, the team deployed a custom ContekPro modular mobile kitchen engineered as a true production kitchen, not a temporary workaround. The modular kitchen was designed to mirror the workflow, equipment mix, and output of the upgraded permanent facility, allowing culinary staff to maintain full production capacity throughout construction.
In this blog post, we will explore how a modular mobile kitchen enabled live renovation, staff training on final-spec equipment, and long-term portfolio value — without compromising resident experience.
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Front Porch, a non-profit operator of senior living communities and affordable housing across California.
Modernize kitchen capacity, workflow, and equipment while introducing new culinary technology. A secondary goal was to create a prototype production kitchen that could be standardized and replicated across 16 Front Porch communities.
Maintain uninterrupted daily meal service for residents throughout a full kitchen renovation.
A custom ContekPro modular mobile kitchen, purpose-built as a production-grade commercial kitchen and engineered to replicate the layout, equipment, and workflow of the future permanent facility.
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Renovating a kitchen in a senior living environment presents unique operational risks. Unlike other foodservice settings, senior living dining supports resident nutrition, health, and continuity of care — with little margin for disruption.
At Casa de Mañana, Front Porch faced several non-negotiable constraints:
Any renovation solution would need to support end-to-end production, not just holding or reheating.
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Front Porch required more than a temporary “hold and serve” solution. A production-grade modular mobile kitchen allowed chefs to maintain full prep, cooking, and service operations throughout construction — without compromising menu quality, throughput, or food safety.
1. Sustain Full Production Capacity
Maintain high-volume meal production across multiple dayparts while preserving service consistency during renovation.
2. Improve Workflow Efficiency
Enhance station adjacency, line-of-travel efficiency, and cold-to-hot progression to support speed, food safety, and staff ergonomics.
3. Achieve Equipment and Layout Parity
Match the hot line, refrigeration, and smallwares planned for the permanent kitchen, enabling hands-on training and consistent culinary outcomes during and after construction.
4. Ensure Operational and Training Continuity
Use the modular kitchen as a live replica of the future facility, allowing SOPs to be developed, tested, and refined once — then reused across Front Porch’s portfolio.
Rather than deploying a short-term holding solution, ContekPro delivered a fully code-compliant production kitchen. The modular unit included:
The kitchen was engineered to support high-volume, multi-daypart meal service under live operating conditions.
The compact footprint was organized around linear workflow efficiency. Ingredients enter at receiving, move through cold prep for portioning and labeling, advance to the hot line for cooking and finishing, and exit toward service. Short travel distances reduced staff fatigue, improved pace, and supported consistent execution despite space constraints.
The equipment package inside the modular kitchen mirrored the specifications planned for the renovated facility. Culinary teams trained on the exact same ovens, refrigeration, and cooking equipment, learning recovery times, batch capacities, and programming in advance. When the permanent kitchen opens, the transition will require no retraining — only a change in location.
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The modular kitchen was engineered around a right-sized, production-first sequence:
Receiving → Refrigeration → Cold Prep (raw vs. RTE separation) → Hot Production → Pass/Holding → Warewashing and Utility
Station adjacencies were intentionally standardized to reduce unnecessary movement and support consistent execution during peak service periods. Clear zoning and labeling reinforced proper food flow while making the layout intuitive for staff working in a compact environment.
This standardized station logic also supports Front Porch’s long-term goal of replicating the kitchen model across multiple communities.
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The ContekPro modular kitchen enabled Casa de Mañana to maintain full meal production throughout the renovation period. Receiving, prep, cooking, holding, and service all continued without volume reduction, menu simplification, or service delays.
For Front Porch, this ensured uninterrupted foodservice for residents while the permanent kitchen was fully offline.
Because the modular kitchen mirrored the permanent facility’s equipment and layout, culinary staff trained on final-spec appliances in advance. Recipes, batch sizes, and operating procedures were standardized under real production conditions.
As a result, the transition back into the renovated kitchen will require no retraining, significantly reducing post-renovation stabilization time and operational risk.
Short travel distances, clear material flow, and well-defined stations allowed the kitchen to achieve high output despite its compact footprint. Deliveries, food movement, and waste removal followed predictable paths, reinforcing food safety and operational consistency.
The efficiency achieved was the result of a custom-designed production layout, not a service-only or emergency setup.
Based on the success at Casa de Mañana, Front Porch elected to retain the modular kitchen as a long-term operational asset rather than a one-time renovation solution. The unit can be redeployed to support future remodels, capacity expansions, or contingency needs across its portfolio, providing ongoing value beyond a single project.
More importantly, the modular kitchen functioned as a live prototype production environment. By operating a full-scale replica of the future facility, Front Porch was able to validate layout decisions, refine standard operating procedures, and confirm equipment performance before permanent installation. This approach enables faster, lower-risk modernization across all 16 Front Porch communities, with a consistent, proven production standard at every site.
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ContekPro designs and builds modular kitchen that function as true production kitchens, balancing footprint, airflow, and service speed for complex menus. Our process covers design, permitting support, manufacturing, delivery, and commissioning so your operation stays online during construction and scales with confidence.
Watch Pierre-Marie Leprince, VP of Culinary & Dining Services at Front Porch, share how the modular kitchen is supporting daily operations at Casa de Mañana and how the same ContekPro solution will be redeployed across future renovation projects.
“I would definitely recommend ContekPro to other communities for any type of service needed. I think it will be the solution for many operations.”
— Pierre-Marie Leprince, VP of Culinary & Dining Services, Front Porch
Ready to maintain production while you modernize and build a replicable prototype for your portfolio? Talk to our team about a custom modular mobile kitchen trailer engineered for senior living performance. Connect with us directly!
By deploying a production-grade modular mobile kitchen that mirrors the future layout and equipment. Pre-planned utilities, permitting coordination with the AHJ, and clearly defined in/out circulation paths allow operations to continue without service disruption.
Production modular kitchens are designed with strict temperature monitoring, raw and ready-to-eat separation, allergen controls, and documented SOPs aligned with FDA Food Code 2022 and guidance for adults aged 65 and older.
Yes. Modular kitchens are redeployable assets that can support future remodels, capacity expansions, or contingency operations — delivering long-term operational value beyond a single project.
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