Matt Starr’s Top 3 Equipment Picks on Design Projects

When thinking of kitchen design, Matt Starr, president of Boston Showcase Co., considers a few high-priority equipment pieces: a combi oven, a cook-and-hold oven, and a food waste disposer system that scraps and rinses dishes at once.

Matt Starr

“Using smart equipment is a great way to minimize future labor and product consistency concerns,” says Starr, pointing to the ovens. “If you can get the right piece in advance, that goes a long way.”

Starr and his cousin, CEO Andy Starr, mark the fourth generation to lead the Newton Highlands, Mass.-based dealership, which their great grandfather founded in 1913. Heading into 2026, the team has made their kitchen design services a top priority. Six designers and two staff members make up the team, who recently added 3D modeling to their capabilities. Here, Starr expands on his picks.

COMBI OVENS. Of course, the equipment offers programmability, supporting labor savings and product consistency. But remember many models self-clean too. One manufacturer now offers an autonomous cleaning system that doses chemicals from up to four cartridges. “You just push a button and it does it for you,” Starr says. “You’re not dealing with individually packaged detergents, touching chemicals or doing the wrong thing.”

COOK-AND-HOLD OVENS. Operators can lean on these units to hold bulk-prepared menu items without losing quality. “Let’s say you get an order of six burgers. You take them out (of a cook-and-hold oven), mark them on the grill, put them in a bun and they’re ready to go, versus having to cook each one from raw to order,” Starr says. “It gives you a ton of labor savings and product consistency.”

DISPOSER SYSTEMS. One system Starr appreciates uses a plume of recirculated water to flush food waste from soiled dishes, freeing both hands for employees versus having to use one hand to hold a pre-rinse unit. The system sends waste to a disposer and the water returns to the tank. Overall, it creates labor efficiencies and uses the same amount of water as a standard disposer, the maker states.

Related to waste, Starr says, plan for trash as he has seen too many designs where it was an afterthought.