Southern California Restaurant Design Group, a division of the IFE Group, was established in 2014 to offer full turnkey services to the restaurant industry. We serve all aspects of a commercial kitchen design project, including design services, food service equipment, and full installation services. We work with owners and chefs to translate their vision into a space that is attractive, efficient, and code adherent. With offices in San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Houston and Las Vegas, SCRDG offers cutting edge solutions to the restaurant industry both domestically and worldwide. Southern California Restaurant Design Group has the expertise to make your restaurant dreams a reality.
In March 2024, SCRDG was acquired by Johnson-Lancaster and Associates (Clearwater, FL), the 7th largest KEC in the U.S. With the synergies brought on by the sale, the SCRDG continues to offer the restaurant industry the highest level of service and pricing for any upcoming design, equipment and construction projects.
The latest project from Southern California Restaurant Design Group (SCRDG) had them working hand in hand with the Gordon Ramsay North America team to execute the build out on the newest Ramsay Kitchen property in Oklahoma City.
Gordon Ramsay North America (GRNA) is one of the most recognizable premium culinary brands on the scene, bearing the name of world-renowned chef, Gordon Ramsay, and showing off the hard work of his entire team. Ramsay customers expect the properties and buildouts themselves to be a reflection of their high culinary standards, allowing diners to relax and completely enjoy the journey of an indulgent dining experience. In anticipation of difficulties with lead times and sourcing, GRNA turned to SDRDG to procure and install a full suite of foodservice equipment items.
“They were great to work with.” Brad Mignone, former Vice President of Construction and Development for Gordon Ramsay, and current Principal at Mignone Design-Build, was full of praise when he spoke with Chef’s Roll about their experiences working with SCRDG to bring their ambitious vision to life. “They helped pivot and source equipment that turned out to have long lead times due to Covid.”
Like many projects completed in the last few years, from Habit Burger and Grill to Jose Andreas Bazaar Mar, SCRDG had to contend with equipment sourcing logistics as manufacturing and supply chains still recovered from Covid setbacks.
“We had to piece it all together.” Thankfully, Mignone says, “[SCRDG] was able to source items with realistic lead times, to be able to maintain the project schedule and open to the public on the designated date, and on budget.”
The new restaurant is in the up-and-coming Chisholm Creek area of Oklahoma City – a pioneering mixed-use neighborhood that is attracting young families, adventurous professionals, and of course – foodies seeking the sort of culinary excellence that Ramsay Kitchen concepts are known for.
So how was SCRDG able to adapt to these timeline and sourcing challenges? By employing the same standards, they bring to all of their projects.
“Honestly, we treat all our clients the same, like they are superstars,” says SCRDG’s President, Michael Benson. “Our Account Executive handling this account, Justin Flannagan, always treats our high-end clients, with very specific needs and requests in a highly professional manner and ensures that all team members keep a constant open line of communication, and are in the loop with any final decisions, or design changes.
Justin believes that you can miss details if all parties involved are not on the same page. This comes with weekly meetings, with very detail-oriented items on the agenda. Making sure all parties involved are in the loop on approval, to ensure verifications. The upper level of coordination is what makes these projects go smoothly.
That’s not to wave a hand and say it’s easy. “It sounds simple,” continues Flannagan. “But it does take extra work to make sure everything is lined up. Most importantly, it avoids any unforeseen change orders to the client. So, we all work hand in hand to make sure they stay within budget.”
Despite the challenges stemming from Covid-related equipment sourcing timelines, Mignone, who oversaw the project for GRNA, is proud of this “very successful project for Gordon Ramsay.”
“The SCRDG and GRNA teams’ unity during this project led to a successful opening. It was a smooth ride with them.”
