Kitchen consequential
By Mike Mitchelson

A tour of the Red Stag Supper Club’s kitchen reveals all the efforts made to save energy– and money.

If you’re a regular reader of this magazine, you know that the Red Stag Supper Club opened last fall as the first LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) restaurant in the state. To earn the certification, building construction (or, in the Red Stag’s case, the interior design) must meet certain energy efficient and environmentally friendly standards.

A large part of earning the certification was correctly designing the kitchen—traditionally a restaurant’s energy-cost black hole. While designing the Red Stag’s kitchen, Executive Chef Bill Baskin found more to love about energy efficient equipment than the money saved on a utility bill. “We wanted to get the best equipment we could get, and this is it,” he said.


A walking tour

Any effort—large and small, high tech and low—was made to make the kitchen more energy efficient. Natural lighting was squeezed in wherever possible—a small window is framed out above the back entrance, and, in the ceiling, a glass skylight was installed. Closer inspection of the skylight reveals its honeycombed structure—it’s a skylight during the day, sure. But it’s also a solar panel, absorbing energy so it can help illuminate the storage and prep area at night.

Packed in the dishwasher station is a high-heat, low-flow dishwasher. All the hot water the kitchen demands comes from tankless, on-demand heaters—two gas-fired boxes the size of fuse boxes clasped around the pipes. The system works extremely well, Baskin said. “(Although) during peak service, sometimes there are some pattern cool spots (with the water), but 95 percent of the time it’s smooth.”

Caps on faucets to maximize water pressure without wasting volume have mixed value, Baskin said. They’re great for washing vegetables or, in the dishwashing area, to power dishes clean, “but to fill a sink, it takes forever.”

Walking from the pantry/prep area to the open kitchen overlooking the dining room, there is a counter on which sits appears to the untrained eye (mine) an electric warming platter, something fitting the technical ensemble of a family reunion buffet line. On it, a pot half filled with water and eucalyptus leaves burbled away.

The 220-volt “hot plate” is, actually, a Diva-brand induction burner, and one of Baskin’s favorite pieces of equipment in the kitchen. Induction technology, in short, uses a high frequency electromagnet to create heat within a cooking vessel—the pot or pan itself becomes the heating element. “It’s the most efficient way to heat something,” Baskin said, adding that it takes one inch of water in a pot about one minute to boil on the burner. According to various sources, a traditional gas burner delivers less than half its energy to the heating process, where induction technology delivers about 90 percent. The downside? Copper and aluminum won’t work on it. Only ferrous metals—stainless steel or cast iron.

On the same counter is a cryovac machine Baskin uses to tightly seal product and extend its shelf life in the cooler. And that walk-in cooler, shrouded in dark wood paneling to match the dining area, is an Energy Star-rated Leer.

While money was spent on the latest technology, Baskin also procured used equipment to fit the energy efficient demands set by him and Red Stag owner Kim Bartmann. One such item was a 12-year-old combi-oven—the combination of steam and convection allows little waste in protein yields, Baskin said.

The energy efficient fryer is a new piece, but Baskin was able to procure it for about one-third the cost—“It’s scratch and dent,” Baskin said, with the smile of someone who scored big on Antiques Roadshow. And he did—the fryer uses several tubular heating elements in the oil, which, Baskin said, use “almost zero” BTUs when the fryer is idle. The oil is maintained at optimal temperature, and the elements kick in more heat when they sense product entering the oil and cooling the temperature. For oil, Baskin said he uses Fry-On, a 100-percent vegetable oil that has lasted much longer than other oils he’s used, reducing the need for frequent changing.

There’s a Magikitchen energy efficient, 36-inch grill, an infrared salamander with ceramic tiles, and an “old fashioned” eight-burner gas range (“An induction range the same size would cost 20 times as much,” Baskin said) to round out the cooking equipment.

LED lighting illuminates many areas in the kitchen (and the entire dining room), including the cold station. Fluorescent bulbs were initially used within the hoods above the range and grill areas, but Baskin wound up replacing them with standard bulbs. “I don’t know why, but they (fluorescents) kept burning out, maybe because of the heat,” he said.

The vents are also energy efficient—or as efficient as they can be. Vent hoods are the most inefficient area in a restaurant, sucking out heat and energy. Red Stag’s are infra red activated—“eyes” positioned within the hood kick up the ventilation when a certain temperature or smoke threshold is reached.

Thought went into the kitchen’s basic footprint, too, which Baskin said is working very well. “But I’m pretty biased, since I designed the kitchen,” he joked. “It’s a small space, but there are no wasted steps. In the hotel kitchens (I worked in) I’d spend a lot of time just walking.”

Trash solutions are part of the restaurant’s overall efficiency. Everything is recycled, including food waste which is placed in a separate dumpster to be picked up and transformed to compost. The garbage bags used are biodegradable corn resin. Used fryer oil is returned to its original containers and, each Friday, is picked up by a “greaser,” Baskin said—one who drives a vehicle that burns vegetable oils.


Outlook

Baskin’s two previous jobs have been with hotels (most recently at Graves 601 and its Cosmos restaurant). “We just wanted the most new equipment as possible within a budget,” he said. While they always had new equipment, it wasn’t necessarily efficient.

The CenterPoint Energy rebate program is what first pushed his attention toward more energy efficient appliances. An energy efficient fryer (purchased at full price) should pay for itself with savings in two years, Baskin said, as will a combi-oven with its yield savings and efficiencies.

The goal for the Red Stag kitchen is to increase its energy efficiency. Baskin said he’d love to swap his gas range for an induction if it were economically feasible, but for now, he’ll settle for one additional induction burner, which will arrive soon. “Kim (Bartmann) wanted to go with high-tech equipment that would save her money month to month,” Baskin said. “And all of it does.”

The attitude fits in with her overall business attitude, he added. “Kim runs a good company, she’s not in the restaurant business to get rich. She runs a business that is good for employees.”