Joe Ferri's Blog (25)

The kitchen is a very dangerous place. 

I was reminded of this recently while breaking down a trade show.  Four weeks afterwards, and I’m still recovering from painful second and third degree burns from hot deep-fryer oil.   There’s no doubt about it.  If you want to maim or kill somebody, the commercial…

When Sal and Amanda discovered that she was expecting, they started dreaming of the heights that their future little Salamander would surmount.  Despite his gas problems, they were intent on raising him properly.

It is that very sentiment which causes the parents of foodservice equipment to continue naming their…

The last thing that I want to think about during the winter solstice is more shopping. Yet, here I am pondering the greatest spree that that the foodservice equipment and supplies industry has to offer. It comes only once every two years and thankfully, it is in a warm place in the dead of winter. The NAFEM show in Orlando, FL, February 7-9, 2013 is many things to many people.  But, at its heart, it is still essentially a bazaar in the fine traditions of the country…

This may be the oldest of all foodservice fixtures known.  The humble counter has served us since antiquity.  Separating the server from the patron, displaying the wares, maintaining the integrity of the food, or just facilitating the transaction, the counter has been a (sometimes invisible) component of our foodservice world for millennia.

Originally ensconced in pharmacies, counter restaurants gave birth to the fountain soda industry.  Quick-service (formerly known as “fast food”)…

I was reminded how insular the foodservice equipment and supplies industry can be when I went to a recent meeting. While attending the SFM’s workshop for vendors, I noticed that all talk centered around the procurement of comestibles. Supply chain management for the foodservice contract management firms revolves around their food buys. The purchasing by these largest of end-users pay scant attention, if any, to E&S specifications.

Although this is a mostly proper strategy for…

A spider is, in and of itself, an unusual thing to deliberately add to a foodservice establishment.   What bugs me is when there are several different “species” on the menu…

Spiders, Spatulas and Speed racks, oh my!  What images do they convey?  If you’re a baker, (AKA a “Dough Hoe”) they might conjure up visions of the fryer skimmers, icing knives and sheet pan racks. A restaurateur could easily imagine them as table bases, burger turners and liquor bottle holders.

Another…

Is it an impulse or a compulsion that makes you want to eat that soft pretzel? Or is it simply the tangy mustard pumped onto it? Displayed food must look its best when laid out for speed and convenience, even for captive audiences at arenas, stadiums and outdoor entertainment venues.

No matter whether concession fare is pretzels, hot…

A buddy, PT, secured a large equipment order.  It should have been his all along. 

Vendors compete fiercely for business.  Buyers factor in price, quality, availability and price when make purchasing decisions. Did I mention price?

PT was awarded only a small fraction of the contract for a large project.  When the end-users inquired of his competitor (whom they favored with the greater portion of the work) as to the status of the impending delivery, they were…

Of all the issues that one can single out for criticism in a ‘professional’ kitchen, the topic that irks me the most is the misuse of equipment.  I’m not talking about the occasional sheet pan drafted into use as a deep fryer cover; it’s the wholesale misapplication and underutilization of the tools of the trade that gets to me. 

Rolling-pin-tenderizer-users aside, who’s responsible for (not) training people this way?

I won’t mention the patently dangerous,…

Stay in this business long enough and you’ll end up speaking Kitchen-ese.

For example:



“I need a grill.”

“A griddle or a char broiler?”

“Just a grill.”

“Upright, range-match, counter model or free-standing, flat-top or grate-top, what length, on casters or legs, cast radiants, cast grates, what grid spacing, chrome or cold roll steel, round or scround, grooved or flat, safety pilots, piezo or…

You’d think that $10 billion was a lot of dough.  The equipment and supplies side of the foodservice industry is worth that much in annual U.S. sales.  With that kind of bread at stake, why are all the members of the E&S supply chain so out of synch?  End-users are subjected daily to our ‘dysfunctional family’ turf wars.  Don’t they (and we) deserve better?

Sure, we’re all competing on some level, and will therefore have conflicting interests. “After all we are not…