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deep fried problem in the Big Apple
How one restaurant overcame equipment failure to achieve quality quick service
New York City is home to some of the world’s most renowned dining and highly-skilled culinary artists. In total, the city contains over 18,000 food service establishments – with restaurants catering to every conceivable palette and population. One of its newer establishments, Dirty Bird To Go, is a Southern-inspired quick service establishment located between 7th and 8th Avenues on Manhattan’s 14th street – a location from which the L train speeds off east toward Brooklyn, and multiple other subways lines carry passengers north toward the Upper West Side or southbound into Greenwich Village and the financial district.
With a customer base as mobile as that of New York City, the idea behind the creation of Dirty Bird To Go was to combine the convenience of fast food with the southern taste and health benefits of free-range chicken and organic vegetables. This combination of speed and quality has recently led industry critics such as Bon Appetite to label Dirty Bird as “four-star food to go.”
The Bird Takes Flight The business model was created by Joseph Ciriello and the critically-acclaimed culinary team of Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing - who was also a recent winner of the prestigious James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award. Ciriello met the two chefs while working in the imported wine business and was immediately impressed with their talents. “They worked side by side in the kitchen, cooking every dish,” said Ciriello.
On a business trip to France, Ciriello developed the idea for Dirty Bird To Go, and he immediately thought of Rushing and Vines-Rushing as partners. “I know the management side of the restaurant business, but I’m not a chef.” Ciriello felt that the Southern heritage of the two chefs could help create the perfect menu for his new business. “We decided to bring our different various levels of expertise together,” offers Ciriello.
Underperformance equals undercooked
With so much competition for restaurant business in New York City, it’s crucial for a new establishment to open with their best foot forward - because any downtime caused by equipment problems has the potential to drive away sales - during a period when it is vital to deliver speed and reliability to new customers.
When Ciriello declared Dirty Bird To Go open for business, the restaurant had all of the menu appeal needed to create a flourishing business, including its signature item; Buttermilk Dipped Free-Range Fried Chicken. However, while so much care was put into developing the Dirty Bird menu, it soon became obvious that the restaurant’s equipment wasn’t up to the same high quality challenge. As Ciriello explains, “We had a traditional two basket fryer, thinking that it would do the job. But, when we began serving customers, the chicken came out of the fryer undercooked and inconsistent.”
The undercooked food posed a number of large problems for Dirty Bird To Go. In the restaurant business, undercooked food means that product must be replaced for no charge – leading to a significant increase in overall food costs. In addition, the undercooked chicken posed considerable health risks because of the potential for incidents of Salmonella poisoning and other food-borne illnesses. Compounding these challenges was the inability to fry fast enough to keep up with customer demand – leading to longer wait times. Therefore, after only a month in business, Ciriello knew that in order to give Dirty Bird the chance it deserved to succeed, he would have to quickly make a change in cooking equipment.
When Dirty Bird To Go began the search to replace their standard two-basket fryer – they were almost immediately referred to Henny Penny. As Ciriello explains, “Chef Slade visited Global’s headquarters to see a live cooking demonstration of what could be offered, and he ended up buying a fryer on the spot.”
“There is a certain texture and breading that Dirty Bird To Go aims for with their chicken dishes, and they need to get that on a consistent basis,” shares Tom Jakab, Principal with Global Food Equipment Inc., - the authorized Henny Penny distributor in New York. “With their initial fryer, they just were not getting food quality consistency – but consistency is the niche that Henny Penny has carved out with their line of fryers.”
Cooking up a quick solution
Many times, restaurants employ a young staff – often leading to high employee turnover. Ciriello knew that this meant that Dirty Bird’s equipment would have to be highly intuitive, allowing employees to operate it with a minimal amount of training.
The fryer that Dirty Bird purchased that day was a PFG-600, a gas pressure fryer with intuitive, electro-mechanical temperature and timer controls, baffled exhaust stack and - most importantly to Dirty Bird – an automatic pressure release valve and stainless steel rectangular fry pot - both designed to promote even cooking, batch after batch.
Additionally, the PFG-600 fryer features a built-in filtration system that extends the life of shortening used in the preparation of food and creates an environment of cleaner cooking oil for better tasting results. This benefit is especially attractive to restaurant operators in the New York City area, due to new city regulations prohibiting the use of trans fats, beginning in July 2008. This legislative change will require many restaurants to begin using cooking oil that is more expensive in cost. “While Dirty Bird To Go has never used oil containing trans fat, many restaurants do.” explains Jakab. “The fact that this fryer extends the life of cooking oil can help offset those newly increased costs.”
In addition, Dirty Bird also purchased a Henny Penny heated holding cabinet to place chicken in during busy times at the restaurant. The HHC-903 features a count down timer module with five independent programmable timers, constant digital temperature display, separate operating time and temperature set points, manual slide vent humidity control and fully insulated doors, sidewalls and control module. The holding cabinet is used by Dirty Bird to keep chicken at an optimal temperature until ordered by a customer. For Dirty Bird To Go, this means that food is ready when their busy customers need it – leading to less wasted food, reduced food costs for the restaurant’s bottom line and happier customers.
Upon delivery of the new equipment, Henny Penny conducted a thorough, on-site staff training on all components and features, led by Jakab. This on-site training made it easy for the Dirty Bird staff to get up to speed and ready to use the machines, thus relieving any worry about staff training affecting productivity. “It is a very safe and easy piece of equipment to use”, says Ciriello. “The controls are self-explanatory. So, we can train new staff members on how to run it in 15 minutes or less.”
An immediate improvement
The installation of the new Henny Penny equipment produced an immediate improvement in Dirty Bird food quality and speed. “Everything has run smoothly since the day we bought the Henny Penny equipment,” offers Ciriello. “The Henny Penny products have allowed us to develop a system that works very well for us.” That system includes never having to worry about food consistency and quality. “With Henny Penny, every batch of chicken we cook comes out perfectly.” Ciriello adds.
With a reliable system of operation in place, supported by intelligent and reliable equipment, Dirty Bird To Go has big plans for the future. Ciriello explains, “Every day we have someone that comes into Dirty Bird and tells us that we need a location in Brooklyn, the Upper West Side or another area. We are welcome in a lot of neighborhoods and we are looking to open more units.”
Ciriello sums it up, “In many ways Henny Penny equipment saved Dirty Bird To Go. One thing I know for sure is that we will definitely have Henny Penny equipment in any store we open in the future.”
About Henny Penny
Henny Penny Corporation, headquartered in Eaton, Ohio USA, offers a wide range of high quality food serve equipment designed for easier operation, greater flexibility and lower operating costs. Product lines include pressure and open fryers, combi-ovens rotisseries, holding cabinets, display merchandisers, and blast chiller/freezers. These products and complete start-up, service, training and technical support, are available through Henny Penny’s exclusive worldwide distributor network. For more information on the company, visit www.hennypenny.com.
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