Chefs Trade Labor-Saving Tools, Ideas

Labor efficiencies marked the theme of the most recent Chefs’ Perspectives roundtable. The virtual event, hosted by Foodservice Equipment Reports and RATIONAL, brought together chefs from a mix of foodservice operations to trade ideas around reducing labor. Participants included Randy Hoppman, executive chef, Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa, Galena, Ill.; Ray Soendjaya, senior executive chef, University of Houston, Houston; and Noah Zamler, head chef, Dicey’s Pizza & Tavern, Chicago.

Takeaways from the event included the following:

Certain ovens can make an impact. Zamler pointed to two oven types—a combi oven and a small countertop oven—that have helped reduce labor. He was a guest in a kitchen where he used a combi oven to produce bakery items to sell at farmers markets as part of his other role as chef/partner at the diner Irene’s, in Chicago, which is under construction. He says it was helpful to be able to put the bread in the oven, program the cook time and walk away. “Whereas before, I was setting all these different timers for pulling things out, spritzing (the items) with water, putting them back in, lowering the temperature and all these things,” Zamler says. He hopes to add a combi oven to Irene’s in the future.

At Dicey’s, the team added the small countertop oven to ease garlic bread production. Two employees used to work at a station and one would have to weave through the kitchen to use the deck oven to heat the bread. By placing the smaller oven near the station, Dicey’s was able to do away with one of the two positions, saving “an incredible amount labor-wise,” Zamler says. And the team freed up one of the three deck oven cavities, speeding pizza production.

Food processors save prep time. Zamler and Soendjaya use the equipment to save labor. Zamler especially appreciates the switch from a bowl-style to a continuous feed model to produce a homemade hot sauce. With the bowl-style, “you’d have to load the peppers, onions and garlic, pulse it, empty it, then load it again,” he says. “Now you can just dump the peppers in there and it’ll shoot out the sliced vegetables. It saved us a ton of time.”

At UH, which has two dining halls, Soendjaya says the team bulk prepares many menu items and a food processor helps streamline prepping veggies. “On any given day, we might peel and slice 200 pounds of carrot,” Soendjaya says. “By using (a food processor), it actually cuts our prep time 30%, so it helps us a lot.”

Oil management systems simplify a dirty job. Instead of manually replacing fryer oil, Eagle Ridge Resort has upgraded to a system that, with the push of a few buttons, sends used oil to a tank and pulls fresh oil from another tank. The provider comes every couple of weeks, drains the tank with used oil, which it buys, and then fills the other tank with fresh oil. “There are no accidents, no spills,” Hoppman says. “We don’t have to order the product; it’s right there. That’s a labor saver.”

Menu updates create opportunities. Eagle Ridge Resort has unlocked labor savings and increased its speed of service by updating one of its restaurants to a barbecue concept this spring. The team bulk prepares meat a couple times a day in a new smoker and holds it in warmers near the point of service. “We still offer steaks, burgers and fish, but it’s mostly barbecue themed,” Hoppman says. “It’s going from a mise en place, having it all right there and assembling it (such as pasta dishes) as you get an order, to pulling (smoked meat) out of a warmer, carving it and adding premade sides.” He says the restaurant, which caters to golfers looking to meet tee times, has doubled in business since launching the new menu.

Other ideas panelists shared around helping a kitchen run smoothly included leaning on AI to simplify translating recipes, placing individuals at the right stations based on their skills and cross-training employees. Stay tuned for coverage of the next Chefs’ Perspectives roundtable, taking place this summer and focused on food and menu trends.