In July, we asked industry experts to weigh in on kitchen equipment for One for the Road:
What is the most valuable piece of equipment in your kitchen, and why can’t your business live without it?
Emshika Alberini, Owner and Chef, Chang Thai Cafe and The Surf Shack, Littleton, New Hampshire
Our most valuable piece of equipment is the wok. It's essential because it cooks food quickly at high heat, allowing us to prepare dishes fast while locking in freshness and flavor. The wok's versatility makes it perfect for everything from stir-fries to soups, ensuring we deliver flavorful, freshly cooked meals every time. It's a key tool that helps us maintain speed and quality in our kitchen.
Chris Wrenn, Chef, Blinders Sports Lounge, Charlotte, North Carolina
The piece of equipment our kitchen would be absolutely devastated without is our fryers. We are a bar and between chicken wings, tenders, and fries it would barely be worth opening the kitchen if they aren't operational.
Andres Kaifer, Chef, Customshop, Charlotte, North Carolina
The most valuable piece of equipment in our kitchen is the refrigeration, but specifically the walk-in cooler. Without the cooler, we would not be able to store products safely, and we would have nothing to sell. It’s a tough question to answer, but the foundation of what we do is storing inventory we can then use to generate revenue.
Chris Piro, Owner and Chef of Again., Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Working in fast-paced environments, it is crucial to pay homage to the equipment that keeps us moving forward, even if the results take time. My essential piece of equipment is the Excalibur dehydrator. It is the most used tool in my kitchen, vital to countless recipes. I rely on it to control the Maillard reaction and transform high-sugar red wines like Shiraz or Port into caramelized, oxidized versions that resemble sherry within thirty days. It helps me extract juices in a controlled environment, dehydrate the leftover pulp for seasoning, blacken fruits and vegetables to accompany desserts and sauces, and support fermentation projects like koji, amazake, miso, and even sourdough proofing when the weather is cold. The Excalibur allows me to preserve seasons and transform flavors in ways that continue to challenge and impress the palate.
Darryl Bell, Executive Chef & Co-Owner, Stateline Road Smokehouse, Napa, California
Stateline Road Smokehouse can’t exist without our two, 1000-gallon Moberg smokers. It’s not only where our food is cooked, but they create the ambience, smell, and flavors that make up the restaurant itself.
Andy Gottlieb, Founder, Sandwell, New York City, New York
At Sandwell, our specialty is fresh toasted sandwiches, so our Lincoln impinger conveyor ovens are hands down the MVP of our kitchen. We make healthyish sandwiches with everything made from scratch in-house (including baking our own bread and curing our own meats), so it is critical to provide consistent heat to toast our sandwiches to perfection without worrying about overcooking, all the while keeping the ingredients fresh and bread fluffy on the inside. These conveyor ovens quietly provide an incredible amount of heat concentrated in a compact space, while delivering product from one station to another to prevent bottlenecks during busy rushes. They all also allow us to fulfill our sustainability mission to only use renewable sources of energy without compromising one iota on the quality of our product.
The Lincoln impinger conveyor ovens help us execute our signature sandwiches with excellence unlike any other, so much so that we have two at each location (despite a single oven being the most expensive item in the entire shop) just in case one needs service. You won’t see it listed on our menu, but these ovens are the secret ingredient in every single toasted sandwich, without which we wouldn’t be able to serve thousands of customers without missing a beat.
Josh Smith, Executive Chef and Co-Owner, Talise in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Little Sister in Rockport and Gloucester, Massachusetts
By far our most important piece of equipment here at Talise is our Nina pasta machine from the SF based company Pastabiz & Emiliomiti. We hand mix and then extrude pasta each morning, dried in the Lobster Cove salty air for each service. The machine is made in Italy and is a workhorse of a tool. We laminate dough for flat noodles and filled pastas as well. This machine not only allows our pasta maker to oversee every part of the pasta production, but to also own a sense of pride in each and every pasta dish that changes on our menu every day.
Andrew Thompson, Executive Sous Chef, The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, Sarasota, Florida
Many pieces of kitchen equipment are indispensable, but recently we have much more appreciation of our rational combination ovens. These ovens are the backbone and workhorse of our kitchens, with the ability to change from roasting to steaming immediately and cook foods to within a specific degree of temperature. The capability of setting a percentage of moisture in the roasting cycle allows us to prepare a variety of foods perfectly, as well as hold foods at the exact temperature for quality and safety for our guests.
Aitor Zabala, Executive Chef & Owner, Somni, West Hollywood, California
The Powerknot LFC Biodigester is a solution that helps us reduce our waste. It uses microorganisms to break down food waste into environmentally safe grey water. Since our opening in December 2024, 1.6 tons of CO2 has been diverted from landfills using the Biodigester. In our kitchen, there’s no room for waste — whether it’s time, space, or food.
Matthew Kammerer, Executive Chef, The Harbor House Inn, Elk, California
Our custom grill is the predominant tool to cook all dishes at Harbor House. It is made from a local blacksmith in the area who welded the box together. A potter in Albion outfitted the box with kiln bricks from the wood fired kiln — a very true Harbor House piece of equipment.
Harbor House gets its water from two wells in the forests of Elk, CA. We are a dashi forward restaurant that relies on subtle flavors. The water filtration machine we use, Nordaq, in combination with our natural water sources, produces water that is truly delicious on its own. When cooking in other regions our dashi is noticeably different and less pure, changing the taste of the food.
Brian Limoges, Executive Chef, Enclos, Sonoma, California
The The Jade Range hearth is at the center of Enclos' cooking. We use it to grill vegetables and preserve any excess product from our farm by drying them with the residual heat. It's fueled by reclaimed almond wood, and when available, wood from our Stone Edge farm.
Steven Greene, Executive Chef, Herons, Cary, North Carolina
A knife is my most valuable and versatile tool I have — anything from cleaning proteins to preparing vegetables. Two of my favorite knives are custom made by Greg Cimms in upstate New York.
Travis Kirkley, Indigo Road Culinary Director, Charlotte, North Carolina
The best piece of equipment in my opinion is always a clean cutting board. A cutting board can tell a lot about a chef and what kind of person they are. If it is nice and clean, that generally means a chef is organized and cares about their surroundings. A cutting board is one of the most used pieces of equipment, but it also requires the most attention. It is used to prep ingredients, slice proteins, and is one of the last things food touches before it leaves the kitchen and is served to a guest. So, it’s important to have a clean, sanitary cutting board (or several) at all times.
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