Posts Tagged pastabiz
Pane e Vino’s Chef Bruno Quercini, Emilio Mitidieri, and The MAM Brick Oven
Posted by Ben in Pizza Ovens, Restaurant Equipment Videos, Restaurant Videos on April 21, 2008
We got a chance to hang out with our long-time friend Chef Bruno Quercini of Pane e Vino.
Chef Bruno comes from a long line of chefs in Italy. He’s been cooking as long as he can remember and says he received his best culinary training from his mother– learning all her cooking secrets and family recipes by age 13. He’s made Pane e Vino a San Francisco favorite since it opened in 1991. Not only does he make the most perfect risotto (it literally melts with flavor in your mouth), he also makes an incredible pizza that he tops with his very own house-cured meats.
As you might imagine, the highest quality tools are a priority for Chef Bruno. For slicing his meats, he uses a fiery red vintage-style hand-cranked slicer. For his pizza, he uses a wood-burning MAM 505 whose refractory surface imparts his thin crust pies with an authentic Neapolitan-style browned crust in just 2 and 1/2 minutes!
In the 1980’s wood burning brick ovens were popular for cooking and finishing a lot of different dishes. Today we’re seeing a resurgence in the demand for wood burning ovens due to the increasingly popularity of that Neapolitan style, thin crust pizza! Some would now argue that it’s the best of the wood-burning, and the only way to do a thin crust pizza, is with the famous MAM brick pizza oven.
The MAM oven floor is constructed from cement Fondu La Farge, composed of 40% alumina, a mixture vibrated into refractory molds which can withstand heat up to 1350 degrees Celsius or 2462 degrees Fahrenheit. The MAM oven comes in 3 different sizes (30”, 39”, and 55” diameters). You can get it with wood or with gas.
A typical wood burning MAM will consume about 12 logs per day. If you prefer to use gas but still wish to impart a wood flavor to your food you can soak wood-chips in water and place them in a perforated stainless steel container and place them on the oven deck. Chow Restaurants in San Francisco, and El Caserio in the Silver Lake area in LA use wood-burning MAM ovens.
AFP-601 Automatic Empanada, Turnover and Perogi Machine Demo
Posted by Ben in Culinary Events, Emiliomiti News, Pasta Machines, Restaurant Equipment Videos on April 3, 2008
We recently demoed the AFP-601 Automatic Filled Empanada and Turnover Machine to a client in New York. But this time, we decided to video it so that you can see how the machine performs. Because empanadas are becoming more and more popular in the US everyday, we get a lot of inquiries, given that it’s perfect for a smaller operation that’s thinking big — think 4000 pies per hour! And a truly beautiful, efficient, well-designed machine to boot!
And it doesn’t just work for empanadas, but any ethnic stuffed pie — meatpies, pelmeni, fruit pies, perogi, calzones, dumplings, samosa, you name it.
To learn more, click here, email us, or contact us at PastaBiz at 415-255-9175.
The French Laundry, Per Se and The Dolly Pasta Extruder
Posted by Ben in Emiliomiti News on March 24, 2008
The Dolly Pasta Extruder is a lovely, efficent addition to any kitchen. Its red, vintage-looking stainless steel exterior will match your vintage manual slicer!
It’s our smallest electrical extruder, capable of extruding 2.65 lbs (1.2 kg) of fresh pasta an hour, perfect for the home, delis, and small restaurants or restaurants that specialize one or two pasta dishes. It comes standard with four dies of your choice.
Our friends over at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and Per Se recently purchased Dollies from us, both known for their high finesse extruded pastas. 
During a trip to the French Laundry to demo the Dolly, we were amazed to discover a large video screen beaming in the goings-on in Per Se’s kitchen in New York and vice versa! Now that is communication!
Emiliomiti Pizza Cookoff and The Vx5 Oven Custom-Made with Remco™ Technologies
Posted by Ben in Culinary Events, Emiliomiti News, Pizza Ovens, Restaurant Videos on March 18, 2008
We recently tried out the Vx5 oven, custom-made for Emiliomiti with Remco™ technologies. in our San Francisco test kitchen with our pizzaiolo friends, Chefs Giulio Tempesta, Giancarlo Bortolotti, and Marc Vogel. Using the only infrared brick carousel oven technology in the world, these masters produced delicious Neapolitan style pizzas, among other delicacies, in only the time it takes, well…take a bit out of your first slice.
Not ones for all work and no play, we decided to have a party with the world’s favorite food.
If you’re interested in learning more about the Remco, go here, email us at or call us at 415.621.1909.
LM P6 and P12 Pasta Extruder Videos
Posted by Ben in Pasta Machines, Restaurant Equipment Videos on March 6, 2008
The only difference between the LM P3, P6 and P12 pasta extruders is vat capacity – 3 kg., 6kg. and 12kg (1 kg. = 2.2 lbs.) respectively.
The LM P6 is an excellent extruder for medium-sized restaurants with decent production. Well priced and conveniently sized, it’s a fully automatic machine that can handle all types of flour. We especially recommend that you use it for short pasta and rolled pasta.
And you can outfit it with a Ravioli or Gnocchi group as an option.
Check out these videos of the P6 and the P12:
If you’re interested in ordering one of these machines, email us at or call us at 415.621.1909.
Automatic Crepe Machines and Comfort Foods
Posted by Ben in Restaurant Equipment Videos on February 27, 2008
After years of Atkins, anti-carb mania, artisan food items like crepes are back and hot as ever. In homes, on restaurant plates, and at farmers markets, these kinds of treats are dominating the scene. We’re rejoicing in the resurgence of comfort foods, whose local, seasonal ingredients (like fennel, acorn squash, wild mushrooms) provide a gourmet edge.
Yet when it comes down to it, you can’t turn out a crepe without the right crepe machine. Check out this video of the COMCRP Automatic Crepe Machine, which can turn out up to 320 crepes per hour, manufactured entirely from stainless steel:
And if you’re looking to increase your capacity to the likes of 2500 pieces per hour, you might want to consider the C3 / LMTONDE Industrial Commercial Crepe Maker. Here’s a video of it in action:
If you’re interested in ordering one of these machines, email us at or call us at 415.621.1909.
The Raviolamp and The Imperia Manual Pasta Maker, for the Home
Posted by Ben in Pasta Machines on February 20, 2008
Ever want to crank out some raviolis at home with your own fancy filling? Well, then you need The Raviolamp — the perfect tool (ravioli mould) for your home pasta making adventures.
It’s simple to use: place one sheet of dough on top of the plate, put your ravioli filling in the slots, then place a second sheet of dough on top. Use the rolling pin to seal the deal, and voila! Perfect raviolis!
Suppose first you need something to sheet your dough…. Enter The Imperia Manual Pasta Maker! Its gorgeous chrome vintage style will brighten up any kitchen.
And if you need a ravioli recipe, our very own Emilio Mitidieri shares a complete one with you below:
Traditional Ravioli Dough
A dozen eggs
3 tbs. olive oil
1 c. water
1 tsp. salt
5 1/2 c. white flour
Wild Mushroom Ravioli Filling
2 c. Ricotta
3 c. coarsely chopped and (processor) pulsed sautéed wild mushrooms
1 handful chopped parsley
3/4 c. grated cheese
2 egg whites
Salt & pepper to taste
Buon appetito!
Santa Cruz Pasta Factory and LM Pleasure Automatic Pasta Machine Ravioli Maker Video
Posted by Ben in Emiliomiti News, Pasta Machines, Restaurant Equipment Videos, Restaurant Videos on February 4, 2008
We spent some time with our friend Steve Simonovich at the Santa Cruz Pasta Factory the other day, which opened late last year, and we caught a demonstration of his all-purpose LM Pleasure turning out lemon-and-herb fettucini, pear and pecorino-romano filled raviolis, and even some small lasagna sheets.
Steve is a passionate, down-to-earth guy. His factory is tucked away in Scotts Valley just outside of Santa Cruz, and already a hit among the locals, especially at the farmers markets. We even got to try some of his fresh apple sausage ravioli and it was delicious. If you’re ever in or near Santa Cruz, you should definitely check it out.
“Our whole business relies on this machine, basically,” says Steve Simonovich.
The LM Pleasure is a combination machine with a flour mixer, a dough kneader, and an automatic laminating machine with a single or double hopper. It comes with a permanent installed large ravioli maker (160mm), which can also perform as a pasta cutter. It performs like a well-oiled machine and makes raviolis of all types, and cut flat (sheeted) pastas such as fettucini and lasasga — a true pleasure to behold and eat!
With the addition of the rear mixer extruder (an accessory which you can customize), you can make all kinds of short pastas, such as rigatoni and fusilli, and long pastas, such as spaghetti and linguini. The LM Pleasure is compact and doesn’t take much space. It’s also easy to clean, work and operate, not requiring additional maintenance. Additional accessories allow you to create a complete line of flat and/or filled pasta such as tagliatelle, ravioli, and penne.
The LM Pleasure is specifically designed for high volume restaurants, small markets and delis, and medium-sized retail and wholesale operations.
To learn more about the LM Pleasure, call PastaBiz at 415.621.1909 or click here.
Vintage Hand-cranked Meat Slicers Popular Among ‘Green’ Chefs and Restaurants
Posted by Ben in Emiliomiti News, Meat Slicers on December 17, 2007
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.
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.”
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.
“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.