The Restaurant Kitchen District on the Bowery

One of the more interesting parts of the Bowery is the restaurant kitchen supply district which more or less runs into the lighting supply and lamp district in the Lower East Side. Most of us will never operate a restaurant, but we have eaten in restaurants, and we most likely have some kind of kitchen at home. Despite the trend towards open restaurant kitchens, these are still rather exotic to us. Let's face it, restaurant kitchens are busy and potentially dangerous places. When the staff is in motion, diners curious about the workings of stove burners or mixer controls are just civilians in the way.

So, it is interesting to explore the world of stainless steel sinks, heavy duty bread kneaders, oversize pots and racks of peculiar baking machines. Usually, one can identify items on sale with a little thought, but sometimes their purposes and uses are elusive. Sometimes they are entertaining. On one visit there was a machine with a sort of conveyer belt, with two recesses in each moving panel. Its purpose was at best obscure, but the warning note explained all in big letters:

DO NOT USE THIS MACHINE TO MAKE ANYTHING BUT KAISER ROLLS OR KAISER BUNS

So that's how they make Kaiser rolls, but isn't this rather specialized? I can hear the tragic news:

"Did you hear about Joe? He thought he was smart. He set his kaiser roll machine to 'croissant'. He's just out of the hospital, you should give him a call."