02/05/2014 | 10:20 AM

TMF opens culinary kitchen

STONEY CREEK, ON—The Meat Factory (TMF) opened a $1.4 million culinary kitchen in mid-April at its Stoney Creek facilities.

Located at 46 Community Ave., the space is a place for TMF’s partners to work on new menu items with corporate chef William Wallace or on their own.

Wallace said many major chains don’t have corporate kitchens and chefs end up doing ideation in a working restaurant, which can be tight and problematic.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase what we do, so TMF can be forefront in their minds when creating their menus,” Wallace told ORN.

TMF also allows its foodservice partners to come use the 2,500-square-foot kitchen and boardroom, which has a capacity of between 75 and 100 people, for company meetings, demonstrations or to simply do some baking or work on sauces.

“We have to give a little bit back to the community that has supported us,” said chairman and chief executive officer Lou Albanese, who founded the company in 1978. He added that TMF is working to partner with Ontario culinary schools to provide 10 scholarships, introduce students to people in the industry and allow them the opportunity to work with corporate chefs.

A lot of thought went into designing the kitchen, which includes an 18 by 24 foot Halton hood on the ceiling, Rational cooking centre, a 36-inch chrome top griddle and grill, a digitally programmable double-door drop fridge, freezer and defroster, a salamander, six-top, conventional oven and a full dish pit.

“The room has a huge wow factor,” said Wallace.
Although deep-frying is not part of TMF’s core business, a double basket fryer is included in the new kitchen. Wallace noted that they also have a pizza oven and a Convotherm oven in storage in case that is what other chefs use.

“We wanted to make sure that as many partners as possible could come use this kitchen,” said Dameion Albanese, TMF executive vice-president.  

Wallace added the idea was to be able to mimic any process customers might use and, with equipment on wheels, interchange items as required.  
State-of-the-art audio and video installations allow sessions to be recorded and projected on two 72-inch televisions or a nine-foot projector scene. The system also supports the ability to create webinars and instructional videos.

“The room can’t just be functional; it has to be visually stunning,” said Lou Albanese, who has collected old cookbooks and antique kitchen tools—such as a hand-crank Birko meat slicer replica and a five-foot coffee grinder which would have been used in a general store—to display in the kitchen area.