ABC Kitchen: There is a pilot light that never goes out.
Photo: Hannah Whitaker / New York Magazine
When the salamander is on the fritz, the stove won’t start and all your heat lamps have gone cold, restaurant equipment repairmen are like special-ops soldiers who reach under the ranges, crawl through crawlspaces, and swap out a lot of thermocouples, the Times reports. Places like ABC Kitchen and Balthazar pay anywhere from $425 to $1,000 per month so that the burners keep burning and the fridges stay cold. They’re the unsung heroes of restaurants, and literally, the industry’s ultimate insiders. [NYT]
