Going where the food pros go

By Jeff Rapsis
HippoPress.com

It was toast that first led me to explore Manchester's restaurant supply stores.

I needed a real toaster-not the flimsy plastic-and-chrome models on sale in department stores, but something that would last. For years, my drive to work took me past the Interstate Restaurant Equipment company on the west end of the Amoskeag Bridge. So one day, I stopped in to see about toasters.

This introduced me to a low profile but fascinating sideshow of Manchester's food scene. The city's status as the largest in northern New England makes it a natural hub for the regional food service industry. In our case, that means not one but two restaurant supply stores that are open to the public-Interstate Restaurant Equipment at 37 Amoskeag St., and the Restaurant Supply Superstore at 359 Elm St.

Both offer kitchen supplies and tools used by the pros not often available at regular retail stores-high-grade, durable no-nonsense equipment that costs more, but provides years of loyal service. After struggling to slice homemade pizza (I recall my wife using a pair of scissors once), a professional four-inch diameter pizza cutter from Interstate Restaurant Equipment solved our problems, probably forever.

You'll also find top-of-the-line cooking stoves, institutional food preparation equipment, and heavy duty janitorial supplies. For the curious, Interstate Restaurant Equipment also maintains an actual restaurant showroom crammed with manufacturer samples of glassware, crockery, and furniture, including rows of sample booths, each finished in a different pattern and material.

Interstate Restaurant Equipment, established in 1949, is a true warehouse operation, with most of their volume generated by four on-the-road sales reps who service accounts in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and parts of Massachusetts. But the Manchester headquarters is open to the public, and the emphasis is on hardware-if you want a stainless steel whisk the size of a baseball bat, they've got it.

However, the place isn't designed as a retail store. Glassware and china are sold only in case lots, and many items are displayed without prices, which have to be looked up in catalogs.

The staff will help if you come in, though, and president Scott Robinson said he'd like to work on making the showroom more customer-friendly.

As it is, some close-out products are displayed in bins with prices. A recent visit found hardy-looking corkscrews for $2.25 and peelers for 75 cents. I take comfort in the fact that the company's no-nonsense approach probably keeps markup to a minimum.

The Restaurant Supply Superstore on lower Elm Street is part of a New England-based regional chain of stores operated by the Perkins Paper Co., which took over the Manchester store earlier this year. In addition to kitchen equipment, there's an emphasis on the company's paper products-napkins, paper plates, towels, and take-out boxes sold in bulk lots. A carton of 500 "oyster quart boxes" with metal handles (the kind used in Chinese restaurants) goes for $13.98.

The store also carries food supply items. Deli-sized blocks of meat and cheese are displayed in a row of coolers, while non-perishables come in jumbo sizes you might find at Sam's Club, but without the membership fee. Some surprising items turn up.

A one-gallon glass jug of Frank's Original Hot Sauce sells for $38.84. A four-box box of Oreo cookie crumbs is $4.25. If you like kidney beans (who doesn't?), a six-pound can is yours for $17.97.

This stuff might not be on your shopping list, but many local restaurateurs use of the store to fill last-minute gaps in their pantry. A recent visit found Tom Colgan, owner of the Stage Door CafÈ, picking up an oversized tub of tartar sauce-it was Friday afternoon, after all.

But it's hardware that really makes these stores worth exploring. Both carry a dizzying selection of items to help fit out your own kitchen like the pros, whether it's professional cake-decorating equipment or stainless steel stockpots big enough to stand in. Giant soup ladles? They've got 'em. An internally lit sign to turn your car into a pizza delivery vehicle? Just $101.

You'll also find curious items such as institutional gravy boats or sugar pourers or genuine "employees must wash hands before returning to work" signs that will leave friends wondering where you got them, or which restaurant you stole them from.

Heavy-duty spring-loaded professional ice cream scoops (or "dishers," as they're called in the trade) are a popular item; the Restaurant Supply Superstore carries a selection priced from $5 to $7.

As you might expect, the really serious equipment isn't cheap. A professional tomato slicer is $248.82 at the Restaurant Supply Store. A formidable-looking contraption called an "easy dicer" runs $595.00, not including the license you probably need to operate it. Deli slicers are $695; durable, reliable toasters (like the one I finally bought) can cost $500.

Neither store is in a glamorous retail shopping district, but don't let that put you off. Whatever you buy, it's reassuring to know that either store wouldn't carry it if wasn't acceptable to the toughest clientele out there-the professional cooks and chefs who man the lines in the region's restaurants and who won't put up with cheap stuff that won't work.

That includes my wife, for whom I bought the toaster. While visiting relatives in England, she had marveled over the four-slice toaster in her cousin's kitchen, which seemed light years ahead of our cheap two-slice model at home. After we returned, I decided to surprise her with a new toaster equal to the one we had experienced in Britain.

But I was the one who was surprised when I couldn't find a truly high quality toaster in any retail store. Were the Brits that far ahead of us in toaster technology? Undaunted, I figured that restaurants make a lot of toast, so I stopped by Interstate Restaurant Equipment to see what was what.

They were able to find the toaster I wanted. And yes, it had to be imported from Britain.

Interstate Restaurant Equipment, 37 Amoskeag St. (on the western side of the Amoskeag Bridge) is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays until noon, 669-3400. The Restaurant Supply Superstore, 359 Elm St., is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 627-1221.

Jeff Rapsis can be reached at hippo@hippopress.com