Restaurant design is a very important aspect of the work done at TriMark United East. By changing the layout of the kitchen, a restaurant can create a means via which it can lessen the time it takes to create a meal as well as provide a larger area for each of the workers.
"It was a mess," says English of his kitchen's former layout. "To get to the back you had to walk past the oven station. We used to call it the 'Olive Pit' -- there was a lot of slam dancing going on."
English is jokey in his own suave way as he refers to the old days, before a repositioning of the ovens created a clear alley-way, but when it comes to his new restaurant design, he's downright thrilled. "When we opened, I bought a Vulcan Econoline, which says it all right there. It was a great little range, with firepower. But we had just beaten the holy crap out of it. Now I have the regular restaurant series Vulcan ranges, and I love them. Plus, I've got two Vulcan induction cooktops at the app station for making salt cod cakes and risotto cakes. They're really nice."
He's also surprised at how much he likes his new steam tables. "I always said I wouldn't use them," he recalls, "but they hold sauces and stocks at the right temperature. You get efficiency, cleanliness, and everything's more contained." The brand-new Carbone custom island that houses the steam tables also contains concealed trash bins -- an important consideration in restaurant design an open kitchen.
Tucked under the rotisserie like a treasure trove is another new fave: a former wood-storage drawer that's now an Alto-Shaam holding oven. "When you try to reheat a chicken, it either gets over-cooked or dry," English explains. "But now, we take the chicken off the spit, pop it into the drawer below, and bam, it's held at 140 degrees. We do the same thing with veal roast, pork, and leg of lamb. It's amazing, like night and day."
Besides a new front wall, better lighting, new exhaust hoods, comfortable flooring, and a stainless-steel ceiling, English has given most of his cooks their own stations -- five in all. What you'll see at each post will make you look twice: little fountains with running water. "I have this pet peeve about dirty spoons," says English. "Cooks are always putting spoons back into a bucket, and on a busy night they never change the water. I built in these ice cream dipper wells at all the stations, with constantly running hot water that drains so that there's always clean water in their spoon well."
Seems as though English has thought of everything, including brand-new banquettes and chairs in the dining room to give the cooks an eyeful, too. Just don't ask to get the name of his contractor. "I general contracted the whole thing myself -- but I'll never do that again," he says with a chastened look on his face. "We did it in eight days. We had electricians and plumbers here working all night. We had refrigeration guys hooking up remote compressors downstairs all night. I guess I figured that it's all being made off-site so all you have to do is hook it up and go. Was I wrong!"