Kitchen Equipment Joy

The last time I had an opportunity to open a new commercial kitchen was the American Bounty Restaurant at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park NY.  Our class (1982) approached graduation and it was unclear if the American Bounty Restaurant would be ready to open or not. Equipment wasn’t in place and everything was still in boxes.  It was organized chaos.   The CIA curriculum was 27 academic and practical blocks.  I was in my final block, The Escoffier Room, with Chef Hefner, the meanest, toughest Chef I ever met.  Gordon Ramsey would tremble.  It was seven days in the kitchen and seven in the dining room.  Half of my class would fail that year.  I managed to sneak by, as I assured him I was half French.   I would roll the “R” in Breton to add authenticity.  At the eleventh hour it was decided our graduation would be postponed an additional two weeks and the American Bounty would open.  Wonderful!  At that point, we all wanted out. Our class literally worked night and day to open this new restaurant.  It is one of the most treasured attractions at the institute today.  Needless to say it was an invaluable experience that enhanced my education. 

This time around I am older and wiser.  Having a hand at the layout and purchasing of the equipment, while being compensated, makes it much sweeter.  I want to introduce some of the featured pieces of kitchen equipment that were delivered to the renovation project.

The Combi Oven:

The ovens functions include: cooking modes for hot air, steam, cook and hold capacity, retherm, slow cooking and crisp and tasty features. An automatic cleaning system with built-in water filtration.  It has an I-Pad-like monitor which stores up to 250 recipe commands.  It’s a beauty!

Tilt Skillet:    

All I want for Christmas is a tilt skillet!  This large capacity skillet is like having a huge flat top, sauce pot, crock pot on steroids.  Its hand crank tilting capability allows ease of pouring liquids out and for easy cleaning.  It is energy efficient with quick heat recovery. 

Convection Oven Proofer:

Subway, Jimmy John’s and Panera Bread are a few of the companies that enjoy the benefits of this unit.  The Lakeside Bistro will be the new home for this as it provides all our restaurant outlets with fresh baked breads and pastries.  The lower half of the oven proofs yeast based doughs with moist heat until double or triple the size and then bakes them with hot air in the upper half which is the perfect marriage.   You'll get to enjoy the aroma putting on the 18^th green. 

The old kitchen design was comparable to I-75 North & South Bound combined into the same space.  The new layout gives the kitchen accessibility from 360 degrees, little cross over and a natural flow. The Lakeside Bistro is a charming new venue that will host a casual dining experience unique to Stonebridge with many events that members will love and share!

First Posting

Hi.

I'm Jim Breton, Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage Operations at Stonebridge.  I'd like to welcome you to the first issue of "In The Kitchen With Chef Jim."  I've created this newsletter to share information with you about our food and beverage operation - information that I think will be of particular interest in light of the many changes that will accompany the opening of the new club house.  My current plan is to publish a new issue monthly and then somewhat more frequently after the club house opens and everything is in tiptop shape.  It's my hope that you will find the information presented here both useful and entertaining!  

Many times things take so much longer to finish or complete than originally planned.  While traveling in Cali Colombia this past September  I visited Parque del Café in Salento Colombia.  Touring the acres of Juan Valdez coffee plants, I could not resist taking some of the fresh ripe red beans (cherries) from a few trees.  I was fascinated by the whole idea of the steep hills packed with a variety of Arabica Trees bursting with flower buds at different stages of bean growth.  The gondola took us from one end of the property to the other.  I witnessed the production of coffee beans from conception to the delicious cup of coffee I had in the Dolce Café at the end of the day.  I carefully stored these beans on my carry on until I returned to Florida, where I promised myself I would grow these into mature trees that produced useful coffee beans.  The beans were soaked until the husks fermented away and I dried them in the warm Florida sun for a week.  I brought them into golf maintenance where a combination of Coquina, bunker sand and a little potting soil was blended in the hopes I was duplicating the soil I studied in Juan Valdez’s gardens.   Recycling old plastic pots the beans where pressed into the soil and watered, that was October 3^th 2013.  The entire Stonebridge landscaping crew wanted to know what the heck I was doing.  Days and weeks followed, nothing happened.  Sunlight and shade where monitored while moisture content was studied.  Weeks became months.  What is going on?  Why aren't you growing or sprouting.   

On January 1^st 2014, the first bean broke the surface of the soil.

For some reason it brought great joy to me.  Soon we had a dozen plants sprouting.  The pots where brought up to the driving range for our first Sips at Sundown on January 17^th.  A display was made near the food stations to show the members how the beans where still attached to the stem which I found interesting. A history of their origin was exhibited.  Unfortunately they went unnoticed.  (I forgive all of you). 

On May 9, 2014, the plant was still an infant.  The pictures attached show an eight month growth.  Mark Metzger said he will show them a little love and plant them when matured.  It seems like it’s taking an awful long time.  Perhaps when the tour guide in Parque del Café explained the lengthy growth cycle of the plants, it was lost in translation.  It does not matter to me, I’m in for the long haul. 

I am lucky to have been stationed in the golf maintenance building where friendly relationships have developed that would not have, had the renovation project not been conceived.    I guess that is taking a long time too.  However it will blossom into one of the premiere clubs in Naples. Touring the kitchen, restaurants and facilities generates a level of excitement for all of the team members of Stonebridge.   It has been a major transformation that will be fruitful for all of us.  Our team is a group of dedicated individuals that truly feel, “Members first”. 

Jim