Hammer and Plate Consulting

Hospitality Consulting for new and established developments.

Services

Concept Development

Hammer and Plate will analyze your intended site, buildings and area to help you create the best possible concept and activation. Setting the scene for the most engaging developments starts with the ideation of an engaging space. A successful business plan starts with showcasing the best of what the area has to offer, while speaking to what the community is calling for. Concept will be tailored to the site and support all areas of financial and emotional success.

Design

Absorb the culinary scene in the demographic area of the development and immerse myself in the hospitality community to determine the top players and discover up-and-coming businesses.

Operations

Understanding and implementing the best combination of practices, systems and integrations is critical to gaining a quick, accurate understanding of your operating picture; keeping things firmly on track and quickly identifying and understanding opportunities for efficiencies is critical in a world where margins can be razor-thin.

Whether the concept is new or existing, an effective operational framework is a powerful tool to keep things on track, create efficiencies and success. Once the stage is set, the actors need guidance on how to play the parts.

And while operations necessarily also inform design and concept, the final piece is having all areas of day to day, year to year operations set up for success.

"It was an absolute pleasure to have Kate consult, envision & curate on Highlands Central Market. Her vast knowledge of the industry paired with her above-and-beyond attitude significantly impacted the success of our project. Kate is your go to person for any and all restaurant related projects."

Steve Maestas

Maestas Real Estate Development Group

Whether your project is large scale mixed use or a stand-alone food and beverage outlet, Hammer and Plate can guide your project through development.

My Story

My name is Kate Kaufman

The best dishes tend to come from the best ingredients: Local Guanciale from Berkshire Pigs; farm-raised local eggs; spaghetti made by hand using only imported ‘OO’ flour and Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36 months. These ingredients will make a perfect Spaghetti Carbonara, but serve it in the wrong dish, in the wrong room, with the wrong utensils, and by the wrong person, and all is lost. The best dishes actually start with a shovel and dirt, a vision, and a desire to be extraordinary. Developments and restaurants start the same way.

It is here that my journey with you begins. I have spent my 30-year career in the pursuit of these ‘magical’ moments of food and dining perfection. From dirt to dish- all aspects that make a vision come to life. My time has been spent managing and owning top establishments in Colorado as well as consulting with medium and large-scale projects – nurturing and combining my passion for development with an understanding of true hospitality.

I have built both restaurants and food halls from the ground up as well as run the day-to-day operations. It is this broad wealth of experience and knowledge that I will bring to your vision - I will turn your recipe into the very best dish.

Project Portfolio