01.28.08
Death in the Kitchen
No, please rest assured dear readers that all of my kitchen staff is alive and well. Nor is this title in reference to the many animals that are killed in order to bring about the delicious food we serve. If you want that type of propaganda, please go visit some other silly site. The death in question is rather in reference to some of my beloved equipment that has shuffled off this mortal coil after incredible service to me and my restaurant.
First, there are my shoes. If you can still call them that. I bought a pair of slip-resistant work shoes back when I was working at Vero that were light weight, comfortable and really affordable. I have worn them every day since. Sure the leather coating was starting to peel a little here and there, but as is the case with all shoes, the more I wore them, the more comfortable they got. I just couldn’t bear to give them up.
 Yeah, I actually wear these out in public… |
The other day, chef looks down at my feet and says, “You know Matt, I know I don’t pay you very much… but perhaps it’s time you got some new shoes.” I looked down and saw what he saw - namely my socks coming out of the toes of my right shoe. Indeed, my shoes are now aerated to the point where I can feel a draft on my feet. As much as I hate to do it, I have to retire the comfortable guys and get a new pair. It will be a shame to see them go, but I can rest assured I got my money’s worth out of them.
Next up is my hand mixer. In a kitchen, this tool goes by a series of different names. Beurre (butter) blender, dip stick, magic wand, immersion blender and so on. But regardless of what it is called, it is one of the most valuable tools found in any kitchen. Shortly after I started working at Rustico, the immersion blender they had broke down. Apparently this happens rather frequently, and they sent the 14″ mixer (a real horse of a dip stick might I add) off to get repaired. In the meantime, I brought out my own personal Cuisinart blender for use in the restaurant to tide us over.
Well, the repairs took a ridiculously long 4 months in which time this little dynamo did all of the work in a professional kitchen like a champ. This tiny mixer was meant only for home use, but it plowed through soups, sauces, vinaigrettes and anything else we could throw at it – sometimes in batches that were so large, it could barely reach the bottom of the Lexan container! But it kept trucking along with results that amazed all of us.
Our large commercial grade immersion blender finally came back from the repair shop, and within a month, it was broken again. Last I checked, we have still yet to even bother trying to repair it. So once again, my hand blender came to the rescue, and was plowing through the industrial-sized work load for another month.
 Worn down to the end. What a brave little trooper. |
But this past Wednesday that I went to mix some lobsters (who had also recently given up their lives for the restaurant) into a batch of lobster béchamel, and I discovered with much sadness that the blade was just not spinning any more. Even after all the abuse this motor had taken, it had still not burned out - but rather the internal gears had finally worn down to the nub. The amount of work this blender had done for me - through culinary school, home use and professional use was truly astounding. As an unsolicited product endorsement, I say go out and get yourself one right away. I went straight to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought myself the exact same blender. (If you’re interested in which one I have, it’s the SmartStick Blender. Again, this is an unpaid, unsolicited review. I fully endorse this product simply because I have used it, abused it, and it just keeps on working.)
And chef, in recognition of all the blender had given to the restaurant, was nice enough to pay for my new one. Now all I have to do is convince them to buy one of their own that actually works! 
Stumble it!
Eize said,
January 29, 2008 at 4:44 am
Hats off to those troopers!
What would you recommend to replace that flaky restaurant blender?
the 13th apartament said,
January 29, 2008 at 5:26 pm
:)) i love the way you presented it’s “death”
), really funny
vomerific said,
January 30, 2008 at 1:29 pm
What was the lobster bechamel used for?
Matty said,
February 1, 2008 at 11:38 am
Too bad you couldn’t convince the boss to get you a new pr of shoes!!
Beth said,
March 4, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Finn, I recently bought the same stick blender, and it has quite literally changed my life. No more clunky, heavy food processor for me! In the instructions, they said that the blade is reversible so you can use the dull side, and to read on for examples with which you can use it, but I can’t find those examples. I’m feeling unfulfilled. Any ideas?