By Monique Ceccato

It’s a known fact that the quality of the produce you bring into your kitchen can make or break a meal. Similarly, the implements and tools used in the making of a dish can have a significant impact on what you send out to the customer. Not to mention, using quality equipment can considerably improve your prep, cooking, and clean-up time, whether it’s a simple hand-held gadget or a multi-function industrial tool. 

West Australian chefs Amy Hamilton, Kenny McHardy, Melissa Palinkas, and Russell Blaikie share the stories around their newest purchases, tried and tested old favourites, and the non-negotiable essentials in their kitchens.

Amy Hamilton, Liberté

“Some of my favourite pieces of kitchen equipment are the cheapest and most random,” admits Amy Hamilton, head chef and owner at Albany’s much-lauded French Vietnamese bar and restaurant, Liberté. It’s nothing fancy, but one of the efficiencies in Hamilton’s kitchen relies on a simple green bean splitter that she picked up in an op shop. “You push a green bean through a handheld little gadget [that] comprises of three blades that simultaneously skin the outside of the bean and slice [it] in half lengthways. If I had to make a chef do that manually with a knife, I’d probably end up with a far more inferior product and be broke by now,” she laughs.

“I think it’s important to ask yourself whether the kitchen equipment you’re buying improves the longer-term day-to-day running of the kitchen and the quality and efficiency of the food coming out of it. If it does, then those purchases are always important,” she says, in reference to the brand-new 32-cup rice cooker that recently arrived at the restaurant. “It’s easy to overspend on gadgets that might be useful for one dish at the end of the day doesn’t benefit your operation in the long run.”

For Hamilton, some of the most used and essential items in her kitchen are the simplest. She admits that the fast-paced Liberte kitchen wouldn’t run without a couple of “good, non-stick pans for the tonnes of crab noodles, our steamer for steaming bao buns and puddings, [and] our blue kiwi julienne peeler that we use to shred everything.” 

Kenny McHardy, Manuka Woodfire Kitchen

With a name like Manuka Woodfire Kitchen, there’s no guessing as to what chef and owner, Kenny McHardy, might consider to be his kitchen essentials. 

“For me, the most important item in my kitchen is dry and cured firewood,” says McHardy, who opened Manuka with his wife eight years ago. Inspired by his upbringing in New Zealand, McHardy named his Fremantle-based restaurant after the Manuka wood he remembers heading out to collect with family.

Imparting its flavour on the likes of wood-roasted olives, Abrolhos Island scallops with celeriac remoulade and prawn bisque, and Jerusalem artichoke with oyster mushrooms and parmesan crisps, the type of wood McHardy chooses to fire up his ovens with, and the condition of that wood, plays a vital role in the end result of his dishes. “We mainly use jarrah and white gum for service [at Manuka],” he says. “With the change of seasons going into winter, it also means we have to change our processes to keep the wood dry.”

Two years ago, the kitchen underwent an overhaul, and a brand-new wood oven was installed. After six years in service, McHardy realised “it was time for the old one to hang up its boots”. “We had to close for a week to get it installed, so it was important that we got it right,” he said.

Melissa Palinkas, Young George Bar and Kitchen and Ethos Deli & Dining Room

Running two bustling restaurants is an exercise in extreme organisation. For Melissa Palinkas, co-owner and chef at Young George Bar and Kitchen and Ethos Deli, large-scale, multi-purpose tools are the key to keeping up with the huge demand put on the kitchens of her venues. “Currently, I’m in the middle of upgrading my Unox stacker ovens to the larger sizes and my Stagionella charcuterie chamber from a 100kg capacity to a 150kg capacity.” 

It’s an important move for Palinkas as, to her, “efficiency is everything”. “[A bigger oven means I’m] able to bake more at one time to increase volume to sell. Also, with the curing fridge, it gives me an extra 50kg of product. It takes around three to four months to produce salami, so [it’s] very important,” she says. With upwards of 10 house-cured charcuterie items on the menu at Ethos Deli at any given time and a commitment to no-waste principles across food and beverage in both venues, an abundance of curing and storage capacity is non-negotiable for her.

Given her reliance on capacity and versatility, it’s unsurprising that Palinkas’ favourite item in her kitchen is another large-scale, multi-purpose tool. “My favourite thing in the kitchen is my Target top at Young George,” she says. “It's a great unit, and I’m able to have so many things going at once.” But, when it comes to all-time, no-fail kitchen essentials, Palinkas swears by her trusty “KitchenAid stand mixer, Thermomix, and a good set of scales.”

Russell Blaikie, Prendiville Group

As the recently appointed director of food at the Prendiville Group, former Must Winebar chef and owner Russell Blaikie is already making changes around the kitchens he heads up. “At the Cottesloe Hotel, we just bought a couple of brand new fryers, which are pretty amazing,” he says. “I'm really impressed with them because the way they're designed means they have a really fast recovery, they use just over half the amount of oil that the friers we replaced did, and the oil life is longer because the thermostat in there works really efficiently. We get at least another day or two out of the oil.”

Though he’s pretty happy with the new instalments at the Cottesloe Beach Hotel, get Blaikie talking about his all-time favourite kitchen appliance, the Thermomix, and there’s absolutely no stopping him. “I was a Thermo sceptic in the past, and I kind of thought “what's all this?”. But, my wife had one of those Thermomix parties years ago, and we bought one. Since then, I've always had one of them at my business,” says Blaikie, who has since made sure all kitchens run by the Prendiville group have at least one in their appliance repertoire. “You know, I can't physically make custard as good as it can be made in a Thermomix. They don't just chop, they actually cook and chop and blend and emulsify, and they do it so well. They get a bashing in hospitality, and they seem to last really well.”

Technology plays a huge role in Blaikie’s kitchens, aiding in both efficiency and quality control. But, he’ll never underestimate the importance of a good, manually-driven basic. “A sharp knife is essential,” he says. It’s easy to say that a good, sharp knife is a kitchen essential, but the benefits of a sharp kit run much deeper than just ease of use. “It's reflected in the food that goes on the plate. If you're chopping herbs, you'll bruise them if the knife isn't super sharp. When you're cutting meat, filleting fish, or portioning fish, the portion will look a little bit more ragged, done with a dull knife. Just taking care of a knife and ensuring it’s sharp is one of the prime responsibilities of a cook or chef.”