Do you ever wonder what cookware they use in professional restaurants ?
Well as a cookware enthusiast with more than 55 pans and pots in my collection, I most certainly do.
My brands in my collection are
Mauviel
Demeyere
De Buyer
Darto
Fissler
Lagostina
Staub
Le Creuset
Iittala
Eva Trio
Falk
Matfer
Pretty much all high quality stuff from A to Z.
But is it really necessary to cook with expensive too brand pans to make excellent dishes ?
Of course not, if your stovetop is a professional grade great quality high output model, you can cook with crap pans and make perfect dishes.
But it’s still fun to see high end brands in professional restaurant settings isn’t it ?!?
Cheers, Claus
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
2
Have to say, it’s never crossed my mind. So long as they put nice food in front of me, I really couldnt care less what they’ve cooked it in.
FWIW, apart from le Creuset, I don’t think I’ve heard of any of the brands you mention - but then most of my cookware is “own brand” from the supermarket or department store.
This is an Italian top level restaurant called Feva, located in Venice, Italy.
They use a good deal of Mauviel M’Cook in that kitchens.
In fact he’s using the Mauviel M’Cook 28 cm sauter pan I’m currently using as I write this - and I also cook a creamy pasta sauce in mine…….perhaps I’m not on the same level, but mine taste soo good and I cook in the same pan at least
Lots of Vollrath, Winco, and no name aluminum fry pans, saucepans, and stock pots in Austin restaurant kitchens. I would also expect to see a fair amount of Matfer in better restaurants but more for carbon steel than clad, Matfer CS being less expensive than DeBuyer.
Harters is a valued member of this community.
Are you suggesting only posters and viewpoints you agree and approve of should populate your threads?
That would make for a pretty boring place.
I just feel that if you haven’t any interest in the subject of a given thread, then why post in the thread in the first place ?
If you haven’t got any interest in cookware what so ever, don’t care about cookware brands at all and only care about what will be served in front of you in a restaurant, why post in a thread dedicated to what cookware brands restaurants are using ?
I know the post on Harter’s comment was flagged, but it raises an interesting point that I believe is relevant to the discussion. Most restaurant kitchens I have seen have cookware that would not really interest a cookware enthusiast. The key question about various pans will invariably be, “Are there enough of them?” Sure, lots of higher end restaurants would love to have kitchens full of cookware of the caliber many of us use. However, many operate on thinner margins than we would ever imagine. Just keeping good supplies of fresh and expensive ingredients is hard to manage, and when you add the high turnover in the world of line cooks and prep cooks, a lot of nice things will somehow mysteriously walk off, especially nice knives. When you reach rarified heights in the culinary world, say Thomas Keller, they may be able to afford high end cookware, and they certainly have the skill set to use it to its utmost, but a bunch of Mauviel in a small and relatively obscure restaurant might play a role in the failure rate of such places. While Thomas Keller may be that rare perfectionist, many extremely fine kitchens utilize a lot of shortcuts. Read Les Halles by Tony Bourdain to be treated to some of them with the hilarious and irreverent style I miss so much. I think the recent proliferation of high quality but reasonably priced pans by makers like Tramontina, Cuisinart, Made In, and Misen will nudge the needle in a gradually increasing number of kitchens, but in terms of pure performance under pressure it is hard to top a heavy aluminum pan like a Vollrath. Also, most restaurant kitchens cannot afford dishwashers who will lovingly scour cooked on oil spatters from pans, let alone polish copper.
95% of cookware used in professional kitchens is cheap no name cookware or cheap brand restaurant grade cookware as I point out.
But I still find it interesting to see what they use in professional kitchens around the world.
Whether it’s cheap brand cookware or high end cookware.
It is indeed interesting. We can both enjoy coming across a high end kitchen that is using high end cookware and appreciate what it is doing. It is also fascinating to me to look at the huge variety of layouts for such kitchens. Some are luxuriously laid out and equipped, but way more look cramped and hot. The way the cookware is organized is fascinating.
I didn’t read his comments as having no interest.
Instead, he has the opposite view of yours, which is very interesting to me.
Different strokes and all that.
A few weeks ago I was at one of my favourite restaurants again - Barrafina the one star Michelin restaurant, this one being near Charing Cross London. Went there two days in a row during a 2 day business trip.
See pic. When I got home, I bought a similar cast iron griddle which fits my Smeg gas stove perfectly. I’ve been going to Barrafina for over 15 years now, back when their first one was in Soho. I’ve only ever seen cheap disc bottom pans, a cast iron plate, and then a 3k+ euro Josper charcoal oven/griddle.
While I love cookware at home, it somehow gets little to no attention from me at restaurants. In fact, I’d probably get more suspicious - in my mind I’d rather see them investing in stoves (eg the Lacanche at Raymond Blanc) and oven (Josper) rather than fancy copper pans.
I’ve never been actively in a commercial kitchen, but, even from the outside, it never looks like a trophy kitchen–nor does it seem to matter much to the users. There does seem to be somewhat of a rank order and range of equipment offered through restaurant supply that isn’t even seen by the home user–like Vollrath. In order to buy my Vollrath Mirage induction unit from them under warranty, I needed to qualify as a commercial user.
The biggest supplier of higher end cookware both inside and out of the commercial world has been All Clad for many decades, now merged with an even broader range of inside/outside possibilities with t-Fal. I do have four or five All Clad pieces that do have a somewhat streamlined commercial look to them–and are extremely practical and long lasting.
Hestan has been recently trying very hard to penetrate the highest end of American commercial restaurants with their nanobond and other lines–even some copper–but that’s obviously a small market.
Ray
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
14
I’d like to hope we are all valued members of the community.
I have no idea what was the content of Claus’ now deleted post, nor do I care. He posed a very specific question in his second sentence, inviting comment and I gave a specific and honest response. If that offends him or anyone elese, it is entirely a matter for him/them. But I will take the hint and leave further discussion to those who give a shit about the subject. I know when I’m not welcome in a conversation.
On Chowhound people didn’t seem to miss the point in the exact same thread ?!?
I made this as a fun thread to see what cookware you’ve seen in pro kitchens in restaurants you’ve visited or found videos from showcasing their kitchens in action.
As I point out in my OP, I’m well aware most kitchens couldn’t give a darn about what brand pans they use as long as they use a professional grade high output stovetop. They can make perfect dishes with cr ap pans on such stovetops. In fact I can make very nice dishes at home on cheap cr ap pans too.
Still you see certain - mostly high end restaurants, but also just middle of the road restaurants use specific higher end brand pans and I find that funny to observe.
You may not.
For me it’s like car spotting in the city.
Is a 650 horsepower Lamborghini perfect for city driving at 50 km/h ? No, but it’s still fun for some of us to observe.
If people don’t find that funny or interesting, then why waste space and time writing about it ?
I’ve been interacting with Claus ever since he first started posting on Chowhound–and watched his interest and involvement grow as he became more and more comfortable with English. He’s mostly posted about cookware and his own cooking experiences as his interests have matured, though he may get on his soapbox from time to time.
Damiano has done what you might also consider doing: he looked–learned something–and reported to us. As someone who’s just a home cook with a relatively modest “batterie,” and no commercial experience whatsoever, I’m trying as well. I think the comparison is more interesting than Claus.
Ray
4 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
22
The only professional restaurant kitchen I’ve been in is Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons.
