From Vision to Line: The "Bar Experience" ANK Built for ROLL&CO

Discover how ANK's customized solutions helped ROLL&CO fuse Eastern roots with Western flair, creating a buzzing hand roll bar where crispness and experience are key.

When a restaurant's dream is to break tradition and define a new category, its demands for kitchen and space design become exceptionally high. It's not just about efficiency; it's about bringing a brand's soul to life. In this case study, we delve into the collaboration between ANK and ROLL&CO to see how a creative vision for "LA-style hand rolls" transformed from a concept into a reality with queues out the door.

(一) The Client's Vision: The Balancing Act of a "Non-Traditional" Hand Roll Bar

"The biggest challenge we faced was finding a balance: we needed customers to recognize this as a place for hand rolls, respecting the sushi foundation, while also presenting a distinct Western flair."

— ROLL&CO Founder

From the outset, ROLL&CO was determined not to be a traditional Japanese restaurant. The founder wanted to reinterpret Japanese hand rolls with Western ingredients, creating the relaxed, creative vibe of a Los Angeles street eatery.

This unique positioning, however, presented core challenges:

1.Spatial Fusion: How to harmoniously blend Eastern and Western elements within a limited space?

2.The Core Experience: How to highlight the hand roll itself and ensure its quality is peak—with a crisp nori and fresh fillings, a world away from the "soggy" convenience store experience.

3.Efficiency & Ritual: How could the design make the preparation process both efficient and a ritual, similar to pour-over coffee, becoming an integral part of the guest experience?

二.The ANK Solution: Translating Vision into an Operational System

Faced with ROLL&CO's unique needs, Team ANK did not offer a one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, we provided a customized solution to turn the founder's creativity into an operational reality.

1. Precision Kitchen Planning: The "Bar" as the Efficiency Engine

The Challenge: The founder emphasized a "bar ritual," requiring guests to receive freshly made hand rolls immediately.

The ANK Solution: Team ANK designed a back-of-house flow with the open bar as its absolute core.

Ultra-Short Work Path: Seamlessly connecting the ingredient storage, prep area, and production bar to ensure chefs could retrieve, assemble, and present in a single, fluid motion.

Guaranteed Speed & Quality: This layout drastically reduced serving time, ensuring every hand roll reached the guest within its "golden seconds," perfectly solving the core issue of soggy nori.

2. Invisible Technical Support: Safeguarding the "Ritual"

The Challenge: An open bar means all equipment (including necessary ventilation) is on display. How to avoid compromising the design's minimalist aesthetic?

The ANK Solution: ANK customized a low-profile, high-performance ventilation and equipment system.

Aesthetically-Integrated Ventilation: Utilizing embedded, linear ventilation units, subtly integrated into the bar's design to effectively capture cooking vapors and odors without disrupting the visual integrity of the space.

Tailored Equipment Selection: Sourcing and configuring professional appliances whose size and power were perfectly matched to the bar's footprint, maximizing space utilization without sacrificing functionality.

三.The Result: From "Designed Façade" to "Crowded Line"

The project's success is ultimately validated by the market.

"Although we spent a lot of time designing the storefront, what I hope to see when I arrive isn't the shop itself, but rather—a lot of people lining up."

— ROLL&CO Founder

Today, guests at ROLL&CO experience this: at a modern bar, they watch the chef's seamless preparation and, within moments, taste an innovative hand roll with perfectly crisp nori. They don't see the meticulously planned workflow or the hidden technology behind them, but they fully immerse themselves in this precisely executed "ritual."

Laying the Foundation for Your Brand Vision

At ANK, we believe that behind every successful F&B brand lies an efficient, reliable kitchen system seamlessly integrated with the brand concept. Whether it's a conceptual innovation like ROLL&CO or refining a traditional category, we provide comprehensive solutions from kitchen planning, workflow design, and professional equipment to ventilation systems.

What's your brand vision? [Contact Us] and let Team ANK provide the solid foundation your dream deserves.