Commercial Kitchen / Health Code (Montreal)

[rubyred]

This is my second post about commercial space... Sorry for that, this one is a little different.

I was wondering if anyone could point me toward a goverment agency or something (there's gotta be at least one or this wouldn't be Quebec) that could inform me about setting up a commercial kitchen.

Specifically (and in a general manner), these are my queries:

What type of food sanitation classes might I have to take?;

How to find an available kitchen (ready to go) for rent -- preferably on the cheap;

Requirements to set up a commercial kitchen in a loft space (or similar).

If anyone has any advice or pointers, advice is HUGELY appreciated here!

Thanks in advance!

Ruby

[cook-em-all]

I think your issues will be more about insurance. Burning down the building because of inadequate ventilation and/or extinguishers might put a kink into your plans.

Edited August 31, 2006 by cook-em-all (log)

[cricklewood]

Hi rubyred, I can give you a few places to look I am in a similar situation as yours. The gouvernement du quebec site has a subsite for people looking to open a business, what is interesting is that they have a sort of questionnaire that you fill out with the type of business and all that jazz and it gives you a rundown of some of the things you will need like permits and license. It's not a complete lists but helps point you in the right direction. The other is MAPAQ, they are the goverment body for sanitation, At school, we passed some MAPAQ exams to get certain certifications to show we know about food sanitation and manipulation, They will be able to give you a rundown of certain certificates you can get. Presently I don't believe they are mandatory, but the info is good to know. You can also contact cooking schools they might let you pay an amount to sit in on the sanitation parts of the classes. As far as finding a commercial space, the websites are lousy, no real-estate sites has any listings worth a damn, your best bet is driving/walking/biking around town and looking for available spaces or even asking certain businesses if they are interested in selling(start looking by areas wich you like or can afford). You could also hire a realestate agent but that will likely cost you much money. You might try contacting the city since they dispacth the health inspectors they probably will be able to clue you in on converting an existing space or even setting up in a current one. Hope this helps.

[rubyred]

Cricklewood,

Thanks for your reply.

I really don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but do you have that link handy for the gouvernement du quebec site that has the questionnaire you were referring to? It sounds like a great place to start... To be honest, I have yet to search for it, but the gov't websites tend to be difficult to navigate, while concealing a wealth of info...

Thanks so much to everyone who responded (and to anyone else who can

help!)

Ruby

[cricklewood]

here's where you can start looking http://www.entreprises.gouv.qc.ca/portail/...ge/planaffaires

[rubyred]

cricklewood -

Thanks for responding so quickly... Maybe we can compare notes when I've done a little more work?

ruby