We were in New York City last week visiting friends. We ate at a bunch of places, saw a bunch of people, met my cooking hero Dave Arnold, and had my car towed. I also spent some time on bowery looking for a meat slicer.

I wanted something fairly cheap, a good brand, and a 12” blade. We went through a lot of stores mostly finding ones that were either disgusting or ones that were new and out of my price range, or pretty small. All the stores next to each other and the concentration of stuff was pretty exciting. We slammed through store after store and I finally found what I was looking for. I got a Berkel 808 for about $650. A few notes for anyone shopping for used restaurant equipment (Most of which are notes for myself too). They expect you to haggle. They’ll do better with cash. They don’t like amex especially. It was priced at $750, so I offered the owner $650. I should have made a lower first offer, but I wanted to skip the how about this how about this dance. She was going to give me it for $650 out the door, but when I told her I had to use a card she grumbled and told me She’d do $650 + tax. That was what I expected anyway, so I agreed. We were about to run it and I handed her my amex. More grumbles, but she went along with it. So, if I had brought cash I probably could have gotten it for about a hundred cheaper. Eh, more lessons.

I bought it mainly to use for slicing. Which it does well. I’ve gotten used to having it around, and would miss it if it were gone, although I’m sometimes somewhat conflicted between using it and working on my own knife skills. It’s big, its the first thing I see when I go into my kitchen and although it adds a level of consistency and accuracy and speed, but, cooking for two, it doesn’t really do too much that we couldn’t replicate with a sharp knife. I’ve come to appreciate it mainly as a reminder of what I’m working toward. Slicers are first piece of equipment that I think of when imagining a deli, and looking at it in my kitchen, I feel like I’ve made it part of the way there. It’s a step that I wouldn’t have made without Steve’s Deli as my goal, and one that reminds me that that’s the path that I’m on.

 

We were in New York City last week visiting friends. We ate at a bunch of places, saw a bunch of people, met my hero Dave Arnold, and had my car towed. I also spent some time on bowery looking for a meat slicer.

I wanted something fairly cheap, a good brand, and a 12” blade. We went through a lot of stores mostly finding ones that were either disgusting or ones that were new and out of my price range, or pretty small. All the stores next to each other and the concentration of stuff was pretty exciting. We slammed through store after store and I finally found what I was looking for. I got a Berkel 808 for about $650. A few notes for anyone shopping for used restaurant equipment (Most of which are notes for myself too). They expect you to haggle. They’ll do better with cash. They don’t like amex especially. It was priced at $750, so I offered the owner $650. I should have made a lower first offer, but I wanted to skip the how about this how about this dance. She was going to give me it for $650 out the door, but when I told her I had to use a card she grumbled and told me She’d do $650 + tax. That was what I expected anyway, so I agreed. We were about to run it and I handed her my amex. More grumbles, but she went along with it. So, if I had brought cash I probably could have gotten it for about a hundred cheaper. Eh, more lessons.

I bought it mainly to use for slicing. Which it does well. I’ve gotten used to having it around, and would miss it if it were gone, although I’m sometimes somewhat conflicted between using it and working on my own knife skills. It’s big, its the first thing I see when I go into my kitchen and although it adds a level of consistancy and accuracy and speed, but, cooking for two, it doesn’t really do too much that we couldn’t replicate with a sharp knife. I’ve come to appreciate it mainly as a reminder of what I’m working toward. Slicers are first piece of equipment that I think of when imagining a deli, and looking at it in my kitchen, I feel like I’ve made it part of the way there. It’s a step that I wouldn’t have made without Steve’s Deli as my goal, and one that reminds me that that’s the path that I’m on.