Chef David Chang Restaurants - Case Study

Customer Profile:

David Chang is the chef and owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, and Ko in New York City. Chang is one of the most acclaimed chefs in the United States and has several culinary awards to his credit, including the 2007 James Beard Best New Restaurant Nomination, GQ’s 2007 Chef of the Year, Bon Appétit’s 2007 Chef of the Year, and the 2007 James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award.

“Hobart mixers are built to last and they do a great job. You can go into some restaurants and see Hobart mixers that are older than the cooks.”
David Chang, chef and owner of Momofuku Noodle Bar, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, and Ko.

Challenge:

Chang recently opened his third restaurant, Ko, in New York City. A hallmark of his restaurants, Chang’s menus change constantly, and recently he decided to expand his pastry and dessert program. Chang had used several small mixers in the past, but he wanted to upgrade to a larger model that could produce desserts and doughs for baked goods in all three of his restaurants.

He wanted a mixer that would simplify food production, allow the staff to prepare more products in less time and improve consistency across the three restaurants.

Solution:

Objective:

• Produce uniform bread and pasta dough, fillings, ground meat, meringues, creams and whipped products.
• Automate food production tasks in order to save time on tasks currently performed manually.

Hobart Products Involved:

• Hobart’s 20-quart Legacy® Mixer is the foodservice industry’s leader for durability, ergonomics and labor efficiencies. Hobart’s Legacy Mixer represents the most significant design change in mixers in the last 50 years.

Actions Taken:

• Chang installed a Hobart 20-quart Legacy Mixer at Ko to service all three restaurants.
• He also obtained several mixer attachments, including the paddle, dough hook, whisk and meat grinder.

“At the end of the day, the Hobart mixer allows us to do more production, more things with technique and more culinary applications, such as desserts and breads.”
David Chang

Results:

• Overall, the Hobart Legacy Mixer let Chang create a better-quality product in less time.
• Pasta preparation time savings: Chang’s staff prepares pasta daily. Hobart’s 20-quart Legacy Mixer saves Chang’s staff precious prep time per batch of pasta dough, as compared to hand mixing.
• Capacity: The mixer’s larger bowl capacity allows Chang’s staff to produce larger batches of product. The mixer shaves pastry production time by 45 minutes per batch.
• Bun dough: Using the Legacy Mixer to make buns from scratch saves Chang and his staff 45 minutes a day compared to making them in a smaller mixer.
• Attachments save time: Chang’s staff grinds about 80 lbs. of meat (beef, sausage, farces and fish) per week. The mixer’s meat-grinder attachment saves approximately 10 hours per week compared to using a hand grinder.
• Programmable timer: The mixer’s SmartPlus programmable recipe timer allows staff to set the mixer and walk away, freeing up time for other food-preparation activities.
• Powerful: The Legacy Mixer is powerful enough to support all three of Chang’s restaurants. As a result, he is able to produce better products in less time without purchasing three separate mixers.

Foodservice’s #1 supporter. Hobart, where equipment and service join together in support of you. Hobart makes a full line of equipment for the foodservice industry, including cooking, food machines, warewashers and Traulsen refrigeration. We support our customers when and where it counts the most. In the field, at your place. With nearly 200 locations and 1,700 factory-trained service representatives across the country, we’re always close by to install, maintain and service your equipment. If that’s the kind of support network you’ve been looking for, contact your Hobart representative today by calling 937-332-7143.

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