Vintage Hand-cranked Meat Slicers Popular Among ‘Green’ Chefs and Restaurants
A couple of years ago Emilio Mitidieri was quoted in the SF Chronicle, in an article about Salumi and antique Berkel obsessions that truly captures the aesthetic appeal of these rare machines:
At Quince in San Francisco, chef-owner Michael Tusk was inspired to buy a Berkel after visiting a restaurant in Florence, where three or four women steadily sliced meats for the customers in their midst. “It was so beautiful,” Tusk says.He found his red Berkel — a reproduction of a model made 70 or 80 years ago — in Florence, and bought it on the spot using all the cash he’d brought to pay for his hotel room.Vintage style Berkels have become popular especially among Slow Food-influenced chefs and restauranteurs whose mantra is “local”. Emilio Mitidieri is quoted in a press release today and we’ve reproduced it here:
San Francisco (December 17, 2007) — With the rise in popularity of local, sustainably produced and prepared foods, antique and vintage style food slicers have become popular among “green”-minded restauranteurs. Emilio Mitidieri, owner of Emiliomiti LLC (www.Emiliomiti.com) and a leading expert in specialty restaurant equipment, was recently interviewed for The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels: Cold Cuts”, where he demonstrated the precision cuts of hand-cranked Berkel slicers, and discussed the revival of these artisan constructed machines.
He intended to install it right in his dining room, and imagined standing there slicing for his guests. The reality of running a smash-hit restaurant intervened with that dream, the Berkel resides downstairs in the kitchen, next to an antique Berkel scale, also red.
The pursuit of the Berkel can lead to long hours on eBay. Others have stories of complicated deals with friends who know people in Italy who are friends of New York’s Mario Batali, who has eight Berkels, according to Emilio Mitidieri of San Francisco.
Mitidieri sells antique and reproduction Berkels through his BerkelBiz Web site, and has seen business pick up — even more in New York than in the Bay Area.
His theory about the salumi trend is simple: “Someone saw a picture of Lupa (one of Batali’s restaurants) and the slicer, and they wanted it.”
Now, he says, even “guys opening pizzerias, they’re buying Berkels. Chefs love tools — they have to have it.”
“Along with the popularity of sustainable food items like local, organic, cruelty free, grass fed, and free range,” says Mr. Mitidieri, “we are seeing tremendous demand for reproduction vintage style slicers, from the most conscious US restaurants to the likes of Whole Foods.”
Restored antique slicers aren’t easy to find, as Berkel stopped manufacturing them long ago, and they now draw a premium. Their virtues include: the ability to cut paper thin slices, which is almost impossible with standard electric machines; manual execution, which saves energy and is noise free; and custom refurbishment in Italy, which adds esthetic artisan appeal. Although electric slicers may be faster many culinary aficionados claim the heat caused by the high speed blades “cooks” the meticulously
produced meats.
“The Berkel is the Ferrari of meat slicers,” says Chris Cosentino, chef-owner of Incanto in Noe Valley. “It’s an elegant, beautiful, precision machine, simply the best thing there is to slice meat.”
In an effort to meet this need, Emiliomiti LLC (www.Emiliomiti.com) has partnered with a small Italian manufacturer that specializes in metal casting to create a new vintage style slicer with old Berkel appeal. Using original master moulds, cast iron or aluminum and hand polished chrome, the quality and craftsmanship of the classic Berkel slicers has been reincarnated, recalling the early 1900s through the late 1960s. Emiliomiti LLC is the only showroom in North America featuring reproduction slicers alongside antique Berkel machines, which are also showcased in their online catalog (www.BerkelBiz.com).
With a background in industrial pasta manufacturing, Mr. Mitidieri has become an international consultant and supplier of meat slicers, pasta machines, brick ovens, espresso machines, and sausage makers. His clients include well known restaurants on both coasts including; The French Laundry, A16, Oliveto, Incanto, Lupa, Bar Jamon, Otto, and MoMA Cafe 2.
The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels: Cold Cuts”, is set to air on December 17 at 8 PM PT. Mr. Mitidieri discusses and demos assorted antique and vintage style slicers from the Emiliomiti LLC showroom located in San Francisco’s Mission District.
At Quince in San Francisco, chef-owner Michael Tusk was inspired to buy a Berkel after visiting a restaurant in Florence, where three or four women steadily sliced meats for the customers in their midst. “It was so beautiful,” Tusk says.He found his red Berkel — a reproduction of a model made 70 or 80 years ago — in Florence, and bought it on the spot using all the cash he’d brought to pay for his hotel room.Vintage style Berkels have become popular especially among Slow Food-influenced chefs and restauranteurs whose mantra is “local”. Emilio Mitidieri is quoted in a press release today and we’ve reproduced it here:
San Francisco (December 17, 2007) — With the rise in popularity of local, sustainably produced and prepared foods, antique and vintage style food slicers have become popular among “green”-minded restauranteurs. Emilio Mitidieri, owner of Emiliomiti LLC (www.Emiliomiti.com) and a leading expert in specialty restaurant equipment, was recently interviewed for The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels: Cold Cuts”, where he demonstrated the precision cuts of hand-cranked Berkel slicers, and discussed the revival of these artisan constructed machines.
He intended to install it right in his dining room, and imagined standing there slicing for his guests. The reality of running a smash-hit restaurant intervened with that dream, the Berkel resides downstairs in the kitchen, next to an antique Berkel scale, also red.
The pursuit of the Berkel can lead to long hours on eBay. Others have stories of complicated deals with friends who know people in Italy who are friends of New York’s Mario Batali, who has eight Berkels, according to Emilio Mitidieri of San Francisco.
Mitidieri sells antique and reproduction Berkels through his BerkelBiz Web site, and has seen business pick up — even more in New York than in the Bay Area.
His theory about the salumi trend is simple: “Someone saw a picture of Lupa (one of Batali’s restaurants) and the slicer, and they wanted it.”
Now, he says, even “guys opening pizzerias, they’re buying Berkels. Chefs love tools — they have to have it.”
“Along with the popularity of sustainable food items like local, organic, cruelty free, grass fed, and free range,” says Mr. Mitidieri, “we are seeing tremendous demand for reproduction vintage style slicers, from the most conscious US restaurants to the likes of Whole Foods.”
Restored antique slicers aren’t easy to find, as Berkel stopped manufacturing them long ago, and they now draw a premium. Their virtues include: the ability to cut paper thin slices, which is almost impossible with standard electric machines; manual execution, which saves energy and is noise free; and custom refurbishment in Italy, which adds esthetic artisan appeal. Although electric slicers may be faster many culinary aficionados claim the heat caused by the high speed blades “cooks” the meticulously
produced meats.
“The Berkel is the Ferrari of meat slicers,” says Chris Cosentino, chef-owner of Incanto in Noe Valley. “It’s an elegant, beautiful, precision machine, simply the best thing there is to slice meat.”
In an effort to meet this need, Emiliomiti LLC (www.Emiliomiti.com) has partnered with a small Italian manufacturer that specializes in metal casting to create a new vintage style slicer with old Berkel appeal. Using original master moulds, cast iron or aluminum and hand polished chrome, the quality and craftsmanship of the classic Berkel slicers has been reincarnated, recalling the early 1900s through the late 1960s. Emiliomiti LLC is the only showroom in North America featuring reproduction slicers alongside antique Berkel machines, which are also showcased in their online catalog (www.BerkelBiz.com).
With a background in industrial pasta manufacturing, Mr. Mitidieri has become an international consultant and supplier of meat slicers, pasta machines, brick ovens, espresso machines, and sausage makers. His clients include well known restaurants on both coasts including; The French Laundry, A16, Oliveto, Incanto, Lupa, Bar Jamon, Otto, and MoMA Cafe 2.
The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels: Cold Cuts”, is set to air on December 17 at 8 PM PT. Mr. Mitidieri discusses and demos assorted antique and vintage style slicers from the Emiliomiti LLC showroom located in San Francisco’s Mission District.
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