fun fact: in the Papua-New-Guinean, English-based creole language Tok Pisin, the common word for "large" is "bigas," pronounced "bigass," because that's the English word it comes from.
Let's appreciate that during every jolly, relaxed, focused and informative cooking video he does, the running of this monster operation is in the back of his mind...
J. Kenji López-Alt definitely going to check it out next time I’m in the bay and when dine-in opens back up. Thank you for teaching me how to make breakfast.
This tour gives people an eye opener about the immense cost behind running a food service establishment, also maintaining the food safety standards. These food industry guys needs support all over the World. P.s I got the underlying discomfort when every time he said "due to Covid".
I mean Kenji's restaurant is gigantic compared to a lot of other restaurants. But yeah, restuarants are hugely expensive. Would not be surprised if his investment is well into the millions.
@@John-yu6toI agree. I’ve worked in a fair amount of restaurants, Kenji restaurant is HUGE.. Glad to see he is still in business regardless not having full service for a huge place.
True dat on the expense but those $16 sausages probably cost a $1 to make. But that being said, it takes those kinds of profit margins to make it on the Peninsula with all the expenses.
I used to work across the street. When it used to be an Italian place we used to hold events there too. That was a tough location at the end of B street but you guys have helped make it more popular to go down that way. Shoutout to China Bee too.
This is a very clean kitchen, I really appreciate you actually caring. The amount of nasty kitchens I have been in makes it hard to order from some places.
I worked at a huge restaurant for 2 years (250+ guests room), the kitchen was fully cleaned every night and we still managed to have roaches once in a while. It's hard to keep a restaurant clean like this. But the rule is, if the kitchen is not cleaned every day, don't even bother eating there. Ours was and we still had problems.
Does the US have food hygiene ratings? In the UK we have a 5 star rating system, you will be closed down if you don't get enough stars and personally wouldn't eat at a restaurant that has less than a 4 star rating. places are required to have the rating on display and you can look it up online, it works really well You can also look up the inspection reports and when they were last inspected online. You won't be getting a 4+ star rating if you don't do a relatively deep clean every night
@@TomusMedia it's a bit loose right now during covid. But the health code is run similarly. Can't have lower than 80/100 iirc. I'm amazed he can keep a restaurant that size so clean considering I've been working with a minimal staff since April.
@@TomusMedia Yeah the US has food safety inpesction that grades on a scale of 100. Used to be pretty strict pre COVID. Still if you go to a place that regularly gets 95-100 you're pretty safe
I love how his daughter figures into every aspect of his life. Most people wouldn't think of keeping something at work to delight their kids when they visit.
"If you see any health code violations, let me know" Don't worry, everyone online is not only a Phd in every degree known to man, they are also experienced restaurant owners of all types and wrote the book on food safety and food science. You're in good hands.
As a cook at a 3 michelin in SF , can I just say you had one helluva build-out for that entire spot . I 100% understand why you chose a suburban area like downtown San Mateo for your restaurant. A space like this + renovation + installation would cost 3-4x what it probably cost here. Kudos to you. I wish our layout was this spacious. We could get so much more done. Wursthall is BUILT for volume. Easily push 5-600 covers a night in that type of layout.
We have had nights like that pre-covid, though not many. One of the downsides of the suburbs is it’s hard to get that volume of customers regularly. Trade offs everywhere. Restaurants are a tough business. What restaurant are you at?
Yeah that's absolutely amazing. That whole area (the Cellar, not Beer Walk-in) is soooo far away though. I hope they have a little service elevator somewhere. Do you know how heavy those kegs are? Quite heavy....
This is awesome content! I somehow ended up running a little smashburger truck on the beach in China this summer and always had so many questions for this kind of stuff. Particularly optimizing ingredient freshness / storing the buns, how best to keep the greasy stuff clean ( the flat top, burners, fryers, fry oil). A video on that side would be cool, too. The videos I found on that were dry, soulless, ans mostly useless. Need some Kenji practical charm for it. My next project is a Jianbing guozi shop with nationally inspired flavors, i.e. German (sausage + sauerkraut, sour cream) Korean (kalbi beef, kimchi) american (bbq pulled pork, crunchy coleslaw) Mexican (avocado paste, seasoned chicken, pickled onions, lime) Indian (masala chicken, sour cream coriander) Etc. Anyways, the amount of prep will be huge and it's hard to figure out a strategy that can make it fast, efficient, and scalable. The whole condiment/topping trays seems easy, but how to prep/keep the meats warm on steam trays, or in crock pots, or vacuum portioning in sauce, or vacuum sealing general meat and reheating in sauce, etc. It's hard to strategize without commercial experience, so videos like this that explain the thought process in the setup really help. Thanks!
This may be a stupid question, but why not just go out and get some commercial experience before taking on such a challenge? The level of understanding you get from actually doing it in a professional setting is invaluable.
It makes it really frustrating to use residential machines after working in a restaurant dish room. Residential machines are just so incredibly slow and bad.
@@DarnMyNameDoesntFi Same, even tho I had to wash everything by hand and then put it in the dishwasher/sanitiser, but still, made washing dishes so much faster.
Working at chipotle, I found that the dishwasher really made sure that dishes were clean, however with the 3 compartments, dishes could be done far faster without the dishwasher. The dishwasher was flawless in terms of safety gaurantees with cleanliness
Very cool. As someone who spent 15 years working in restaurants and hotels, that is the most perfectly organized, cleanest restaurant I have ever seen. By far.
I heard they are really great for cooking vegetables if they are just to be cooked as is and then plated, i.e broccoli. That's probably the only reason.
As someone who has been a server, and bartender for the past six years, this place is massive (and massively cool!!!). Also, when you are able to take guests, I would love to see a night from the front-of-house perspectives!! And back-of-house. Like a two-parter! (I've worn a go-pro during a catering, and it was the most fun I've ever had serving).
After being laid off from my line cook job because of Covid, I've missed being in the restaurant environment. Thanks for uploading this, Kenji! It felt like a quick trip back home 💔
Wursthall was one of the last places I ate at before shelter in place was enacted across the Bay. Can't wait to be back in there again one day, but for now to-go will have to suffice! Thanks for the tour and all you do for the cooking community Kenji!
I so wanted to go there but we stopped right in front of it, days before lockdown. We had a massive breakfast at the hotel and just couldn't eat at that point. I hope I'll make it back at some point.
I work in a restaurant and cooking is my passion. These kinds of videos are a sense of appreciation for people in this industry, so I thank you for this. Hearing someone on RUclips explain the concept of hotel pans makes me happy.
Damn, between the immaculate kitchen, thoroughly thought out menu and placement, and your chill inclusive vibe, this must be about the best kitchen to work in.
Is there anything like that available for the home kitchen? Or in the works? Awesome to be able to sous vide without having to vacuum seal, and more than 2 steaks at a time
@@Metalaco There's an Anova Precision Oven unboxing on this channel from a few months ago that you might find interesting. It's a programmable countertop model big enough for a whole chicken, and it can also do higher temperature dry cooking as well, unlike a pure Controlled VAPor oven. It wasn't a review video, though one may be forthcoming eventually, but has some background. There are also built-in combi-ovens and steam ovens for home available for more money. I think the Anova is about $800 CAD, built-ins for home range from around $1 k - $ 9 k CAD, depending on size, features, construction, design, warranty, whether you get them plumbed in vs. having a tank you fill, etc... I've read that you can also sometimes get used commercial ones for comparable prices if you know where to look. If you're getting a built-in, you might want to get a combi-oven instead of a CVAP oven so that you can use it as a multitasker rather than needing a separate appliance for higher temperature cooking. Definitely check to see what the max. temperature is if that's the way you go though, as combi-ovens vary depending on what they're intended for. Also check to see how precise their temperature and humidity control and sensing is. Not all combi-ovens can do bagless sous-vide due to lack of precision. Some use steam for faster heat transfer (hence "speed-oven") and a way to maintain juicy-ness, or improved baking, which don't have the same requirements.
@@Metalaco You're welcome! I only saw that video a few weeks ago and almost immediately my mind was spinning with thoughts about how much that could change the way I cook things at home. It's a bit of a rabbit hole all the variations in different appliances though, so definitely do your research. Like, for instance, there are some ovens with steam out of Japan which are specifically optimized for various kinds of thick toast dishes, which isn't something that's really part of my everyday life and wouldn't have occurred to me just from looking at a listing. The Anova is appealing partly because there's a fairly active user community who discuss their experiences with trying out different ways to use it, various aftermarket accessories they like, and how to handle unexpected quirks with them. It's still pretty new. I think that they've only been shipping for a few months, so I'm personally going to let them work out any early production teething problems before really considering buying one, but it's a really interesting concept.
You are one cool dude!!! I doubt that there are many other restaurant owners that could explain their "behind-the-scenes" operations so efficiently and succinctly. Cheers and thanks for posting.
You're practically reading my mind. Just a couple of days ago I was thinking about how I much I like the videos in your home kitchen, but also how much I enjoyed the Wursthall vids and how you operate in that professional space. That's going to be super interesting!
I saw the word "thanks" on one of the taped notes in the kitchen. I'm not sure I've ever seen that on a note in a commercial kitchen before. All-caps and exclamation marks, but not that. A little thing, but oh so damn important.
People who work in restaurants should have their own awards show! Some of the hardest work in the world is working in and running a restaurant! You have my deepest respect! 🥂🥂🥂🥂
That is the cleanest and most well organized prep area I have ever seen! I recall our walk-in being a mess most of the time and organized dry storage was a pipe dream.
I'm a culinary student and covid hit right in the middle of the semester while my classmates and I were running a restaurant on campus. Watching this makes me miss it so much. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely love it! Although I have a totally unrelated background, for a while now it has been my dream to start a restaurant. So much to learn from you not only in cooking and food science, but also in organising. Love how you show us and teach us everything so openly. Thanks for sharing! If I ever travel to the US in the future, visiting your restaurant would be an absolute must.
My exact thought's. Every place I have worked there was never enough space. I have worked many places that kept their space very clean. However Kenji's place is amazingly clean top to bottom.
Like seriously you are a generous person. I mean it’s one thing to make and share recipes online but it’s another giving tips about how you’re running your own business or details about your actual plates. Kudos.
OMGOODNESS! I have never left a comment for ANYONE OR ANYTHING! Thank you! I love this video...I worked in the industry a LONG time ago and still study food and food prep daily as a hobby. It is not what I do for a career but I loved the life and the work. It is a lot of work, late nights, planning, commitment and tenacious. Plus being a little deaf to those who say you can’t do that....I appreciate your attention to detail and making your idea a reality.
As someone who both cleaned commercial kitchen exhaust systems/actual kitchen deep cleaning and managed a restaurant kitchen, I super appreciate how clean the entire operation is. Hope the pandemic was, is, and will be kind to you!
Oh man, after working in a kitchen this was so satisfying to watch. Everything labeled and organized in a fashion that makes sense and is easy to follow. Really cool insight and confidence to show the behind house, loved it.
Thanks for the behind the scenes tour! I’ve enjoyed my meals at Wursthall before the pandemic and this is a great reminder to put in a pickup order for lunch sometime this week. Great seeing how the downstairs wunderbar is coming along, too.
Playing with adjectives that end with -bar and using it as the name for the place has been popular in Germany ever since for obvious reasons. The "Wunderbar" is of course a classic, some weird and funny ones spotted over the years: "Furchtbar" "Lösbar" "Erregbar" "Therapierbar" "Unsichtbar" "Unverwechselbar" "Vorzeigbar" and - drum rolls - my favourite: "Die Unkaputtbar"! 😊
Thanks so much for the tour! I live in the midwest, but as soon as I'm able to get out to your neck of the woods I can't wait to stop by your restaurant!
damn... i'm over in the east bay but i'd love to visit one day, especially once indoor dining resumes! i'm sure it'll be worth the hour and a half commute. love your work
This brings back so many memories. I started working in restaurant/bars when I was about 16. I worked in this industry for around 25 years. I think the only thing I have not done is the books and own one. I've been a sociology professor (albeit adjunct) for 20 years now. So it has been awhile since I've been in this world. I never worked in any place as nice as yours.
When I first saw this come up in my suggestions, I wasn't thinking it would be that interesting. After watching it, though, I was totally engrossed the whole way through. As someone that has never worked in a commercial kitchen, I'm amazed at all of the logistics required to keep the system running smoothly. Great job, once again, Kenji!
Damn, that's amazing. Its much larger then I imagined and I love all those beers. As a Dutchie living in Germany, I'm loving the theme! Thanks for being an inspiration for a lot of us!
I used to work in a restaurant as my first job, and it was really interesting seeing how much each restaurant is Very similar but also Very different. I'm looking forward to my next trip to California after covid to come check it out(the dining area) in person.
Wow, just like most jobs, you don't know 'til you know. Then you see a whole different world with things manufactured for specific features. It's just so interesting, and I love, love the hidden bar. What a trip. Way to use your down time to create something amazing. Rock on and thanks for sharing!
Cheers from Whitefish Montana! Just got home from my bar shift an hour ago. Your kitchen is very clean! I hope to visit once the pandemic ends :) Also kudos on the four minute turn times; I thought seven minutes was extraordinary!
That's my temporary residence until next month! I never visited here before relocating three months ago and I am happy with my decision :) it's beautiful here! Excited to visit California once the pandemic ends
@@JKenjiLopezAlt my buddies caught a few on a short raft trip this past week but I was the loser of the day ;( Not sure if I'm ready for a -20 degree winter yet
@@Coolmanbob7 You get used to the cold fast, as someone who lived in Northern Canada near the Arctic circle I highly recommend looking at winter gear that is recommend for temperatures below what the average winter temperature are so you can get used to the cold. Also have an extra warm blanket available at night in case you're cold at night as well as keeping your hands and ears warm, even if you're driving somewhere dress warm, you may not look cool in a big warm jacket but if you're in an accident or you're stuck or your car breaks down you will appreciate being able to be comfortably warm 😀 After it's -40 or colder for a week or two cold doesn't really exist until it's around -40 again but it's still important to bundle up and stay warm so you don't get frostbitten.
Thanks for the tour! I traveled from Canada to visit your restaurant so it was cool to see what goes into making great food. It's amazing how much of a restaurant is "hidden" to the public.
Love seeing this. It is always impressive to me how restaurants like this can consistently, quickly get many varieties of food out to customers on time. I start losing it when one kid wants a PB&J and the other wants a grilled cheese.
Kenjie at the end asking about any potential health code violations is every restaurant employee of all time no matter how stringent you/they are. The thought of accidently overlooking something regardless of how confident u r in ur closing crew is deeply relatable!
That was super cool to see, thanks for sharing. We haven’t seen a bbq or outdoor grilling video in a while. It’d be cool to see some more of that especially considering next week is a holiday and lots of us will be out grilling. Also if you have any grilled dessert recipes that would be awesome.
Oh my, had some real tramautic memories coming up when you showed the stairs down to the prep. The amount of times i've flown down the stairs to the prep kitchen is insane.
Loved this so much! There’s a chapter in “kitchen confidential” where bourdain talks about a lot of this stuff, but it was really cool to see it visualized.
I used to live in San Mateo and went to that space when it was an Italian restuarant then it became the Taproom (which closed suddenly right before the Super Bowl - apparently the owners didn't pay their staff so screw them) and I've eaten in wursthall many times. You guys have really made it a great space with excellent beer selection. Hopefully we will be through the other side of this and when I am back in town I can go for a beer and food.
Excellent vid. I worked in a food cart in Portland for a while and have great respect for efficiency and proper layout. In a cart, your miz is life ;-) and 4 minutes is smokin' fast. Love it.
I've been to Wursthall a few times, since I work near San Mateo. Absolutely love the restaurant and can't wait to visit Wunderbar (sp?) once it is ready!
Хобби
now that i know all the inner workings of kenji’s restaurant, i can start my own competing restaurant next door called besthall
Ashton Öates I’ll take you down by opening the Best of the Würst next door down.😎
Did some research. Turns out more sausage in this area than other areas,
@@grolaw that is a great name!
@@paulhughes7498San Mateo is a total sausage-fest
@@err1c991 this comment thread is a total sausage fest!
"Here's our pots and pans.. and here is our big ass pots and pans"
Lol that's the point that i liked the video
over there is our hella big ass pots
here is our regular mixer, and our big ass industrial mixer
fun fact: in the Papua-New-Guinean, English-based creole language Tok Pisin, the common word for "large" is "bigas," pronounced "bigass," because that's the English word it comes from.
Not many people knew that.......
Let's appreciate that during every jolly, relaxed, focused and informative cooking video he does, the running of this monster operation is in the back of his mind...
"this guy does all kinds of things, dices vegetables, shreds cheese,.... Actually that's about it." That cracked me up so much
I felt so bad for the machine; what an emotional roller coaster of opinions for him to say right in front of the guy!
But it does it really fast.
poppp
It does do more, he only uses it for those to functions.
i don’t know how my reply got typed i’m sorry guys!!
THAT SECRET BAR IS SOOOOO COOL!!!!!
It’s amazing but I’m wondering how they’re going to run food down there?
I know, right?!
No, there will be bar snacks but you won’t be able to order normal wursthall food at Wunderbar. They are different experiences.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Is that secret door entrance the only entrance?
J. Kenji López-Alt definitely going to check it out next time I’m in the bay and when dine-in opens back up. Thank you for teaching me how to make breakfast.
How am I supposed to make this at 2 in the morning, Kenji?
I just laughed so loud I woke up my cousin
Amazing
@@urbanerhail3813 I have few questions
LMAOOO
Bravo.
This tour gives people an eye opener about the immense cost behind running a food service establishment, also maintaining the food safety standards. These food industry guys needs support all over the World.
P.s I got the underlying discomfort when every time he said "due to Covid".
I mean Kenji's restaurant is gigantic compared to a lot of other restaurants. But yeah, restuarants are hugely expensive. Would not be surprised if his investment is well into the millions.
Yes, my thoughts as well.
@@John-yu6toI agree. I’ve worked in a fair amount of restaurants, Kenji restaurant is HUGE.. Glad to see he is still in business regardless not having full service for a huge place.
@@Drew-po6ju every room he went in I was like "ok yeah now it seems like a restaurant... wait that's not all"
True dat on the expense but those $16 sausages probably cost a $1 to make. But that being said, it takes those kinds of profit margins to make it on the Peninsula with all the expenses.
I used to work across the street. When it used to be an Italian place we used to hold events there too. That was a tough location at the end of B street but you guys have helped make it more popular to go down that way. Shoutout to China Bee too.
That is a massive restaurant 😱
Absolutely massive n we'll set 👌👌👌
The wide angle also makes it seem bigger
MASSIVELY EMPTY
@@pac0re massively dumb comment
It's probably one of the bigger ones I've seen
This is a very clean kitchen, I really appreciate you actually caring. The amount of nasty kitchens I have been in makes it hard to order from some places.
I worked at a huge restaurant for 2 years (250+ guests room), the kitchen was fully cleaned every night and we still managed to have roaches once in a while. It's hard to keep a restaurant clean like this. But the rule is, if the kitchen is not cleaned every day, don't even bother eating there. Ours was and we still had problems.
Does the US have food hygiene ratings? In the UK we have a 5 star rating system, you will be closed down if you don't get enough stars and personally wouldn't eat at a restaurant that has less than a 4 star rating. places are required to have the rating on display and you can look it up online, it works really well
You can also look up the inspection reports and when they were last inspected online. You won't be getting a 4+ star rating if you don't do a relatively deep clean every night
@@TomusMedia it's a bit loose right now during covid. But the health code is run similarly. Can't have lower than 80/100 iirc.
I'm amazed he can keep a restaurant that size so clean considering I've been working with a minimal staff since April.
@@TomusMedia Yeah the US has food safety inpesction that grades on a scale of 100. Used to be pretty strict pre COVID. Still if you go to a place that regularly gets 95-100 you're pretty safe
I used to do pest control and would service some restaurants. Some were impressively clean and there are others that make me question humanity.
I love how his daughter figures into every aspect of his life. Most people wouldn't think of keeping something at work to delight their kids when they visit.
"If you see any health code violations, let me know"
Don't worry, everyone online is not only a Phd in every degree known to man, they are also experienced restaurant owners of all types and wrote the book on food safety and food science. You're in good hands.
"Your bottom racks aren't the regulatory 6 inches off the ground so I'm calling the president to shut your restaurant down."
I don't think using a book as a door handle is ADA compliant
Hey I'm a food science graduate pursuing my master in food safety. So he ain't wrong lmao
I’m an experienced restaurant owner... I watch kenji. 🤷🏻♂️
@@incidentlyaniguana2193 Don't let him know about the big bags of soup!
"It's like chewing glass... but in a pleasant way."
Such a poet.
I was hoping he would compare the fried chicken to concrete, or something.
As a cook at a 3 michelin in SF , can I just say you had one helluva build-out for that entire spot . I 100% understand why you chose a suburban area like downtown San Mateo for your restaurant. A space like this + renovation + installation would cost 3-4x what it probably cost here. Kudos to you. I wish our layout was this spacious. We could get so much more done. Wursthall is BUILT for volume. Easily push 5-600 covers a night in that type of layout.
We have had nights like that pre-covid, though not many. One of the downsides of the suburbs is it’s hard to get that volume of customers regularly. Trade offs everywhere. Restaurants are a tough business.
What restaurant are you at?
After watching clips from “Kitchen Nightmares” it’s nice to see a kitchen that’s not a nightmare!
Everyone’s talking about the secret bar, but the real deal was the infinite nitrogen machine, like how cool is that? Having infinite nitrogen
Yeah that's absolutely amazing. That whole area (the Cellar, not Beer Walk-in) is soooo far away though. I hope they have a little service elevator somewhere. Do you know how heavy those kegs are? Quite heavy....
Samuel Jones True
@@5amJones69 We didn't see the row of dumbwaiters!
@@5amJones69 He walks by an elevator at 12:25.
That's gonna be my super power
This is awesome content!
I somehow ended up running a little smashburger truck on the beach in China this summer and always had so many questions for this kind of stuff.
Particularly optimizing ingredient freshness / storing the buns, how best to keep the greasy stuff clean ( the flat top, burners, fryers, fry oil). A video on that side would be cool, too. The videos I found on that were dry, soulless, ans mostly useless. Need some Kenji practical charm for it.
My next project is a Jianbing guozi shop with nationally inspired flavors, i.e.
German (sausage + sauerkraut, sour cream)
Korean (kalbi beef, kimchi)
american (bbq pulled pork, crunchy coleslaw)
Mexican (avocado paste, seasoned chicken, pickled onions, lime)
Indian (masala chicken, sour cream coriander)
Etc.
Anyways, the amount of prep will be huge and it's hard to figure out a strategy that can make it fast, efficient, and scalable.
The whole condiment/topping trays seems easy, but how to prep/keep the meats warm on steam trays, or in crock pots, or vacuum portioning in sauce, or vacuum sealing general meat and reheating in sauce, etc.
It's hard to strategize without commercial experience, so videos like this that explain the thought process in the setup really help. Thanks!
I would like to visit said shop.
sounds amazing, I love food trucks, hope your business goes well!
Did you try making pork burgers too? I had an awesome ground pork burger in China.
please let me know if you ever find the information you're looking for, i would be infinitely grateful. Good luck with your endeavors
This may be a stupid question, but why not just go out and get some commercial experience before taking on such a challenge? The level of understanding you get from actually doing it in a professional setting is invaluable.
"Industrial diswasher finishes in 2 minutes"
Me: WHOAAA
It makes it really frustrating to use residential machines after working in a restaurant dish room. Residential machines are just so incredibly slow and bad.
@@ianr.1225 seriously, after working in a restaurant as a dishwasher i wish i could take that thing and just plop it in a kitchen. its so sick
@@DarnMyNameDoesntFi Same, even tho I had to wash everything by hand and then put it in the dishwasher/sanitiser, but still, made washing dishes so much faster.
He's not hiring so stop kissing the machines arse 😂🤣
Working at chipotle, I found that the dishwasher really made sure that dishes were clean, however with the 3 compartments, dishes could be done far faster without the dishwasher. The dishwasher was flawless in terms of safety gaurantees with cleanliness
10 day to final semester exam,
And here im watching a guy showing his resturant.
Thank you RUclips for recommending.
Very cool. As someone who spent 15 years working in restaurants and hotels, that is the most perfectly organized, cleanest restaurant I have ever seen. By far.
I want a secret speakeasy in my basement!
Fancy seeing you here!
Invite us all when the construction is done!
SO refreshing to see a kitchen without a microwaving deck!
I would hope any good resturant wouldnt have one but i would realy know
I heard they are really great for cooking vegetables if they are just to be cooked as is and then plated, i.e broccoli. That's probably the only reason.
Well, then how do you heat your cup of tea ?
As someone who has been a server, and bartender for the past six years, this place is massive (and massively cool!!!). Also, when you are able to take guests, I would love to see a night from the front-of-house perspectives!! And back-of-house. Like a two-parter! (I've worn a go-pro during a catering, and it was the most fun I've ever had serving).
After being laid off from my line cook job because of Covid, I've missed being in the restaurant environment. Thanks for uploading this, Kenji! It felt like a quick trip back home 💔
I feel you bro. Its not even the same anymore.
"Let's go to the bar first!"
"I'm gonna pour myself a beer..."
Good thinking Kenji, I read ya 😉
Fieldwork is REALLY GOOD beer too -- prob my favorite brewery.
Wursthall was one of the last places I ate at before shelter in place was enacted across the Bay. Can't wait to be back in there again one day, but for now to-go will have to suffice!
Thanks for the tour and all you do for the cooking community Kenji!
I so wanted to go there but we stopped right in front of it, days before lockdown. We had a massive breakfast at the hotel and just couldn't eat at that point. I hope I'll make it back at some point.
I work in a restaurant and cooking is my passion. These kinds of videos are a sense of appreciation for people in this industry, so I thank you for this. Hearing someone on RUclips explain the concept of hotel pans makes me happy.
Damn, between the immaculate kitchen, thoroughly thought out menu and placement, and your chill inclusive vibe, this must be about the best kitchen to work in.
I swear it's illegal for a FOH dishwasher to NOT loudly squeak when opened...
This comment broke all my stemware
Seriously restaurant work in 2020 has been weird af and thank you for this cheery jaunt through your impeccable workplace.
Cheers!
I work on the engineering team that designs those CVaps. Pretty cool seeing Kenji use them.
CVaps are the straight business.
Is there anything like that available for the home kitchen? Or in the works? Awesome to be able to sous vide without having to vacuum seal, and more than 2 steaks at a time
@@Metalaco There's an Anova Precision Oven unboxing on this channel from a few months ago that you might find interesting. It's a programmable countertop model big enough for a whole chicken, and it can also do higher temperature dry cooking as well, unlike a pure Controlled VAPor oven. It wasn't a review video, though one may be forthcoming eventually, but has some background.
There are also built-in combi-ovens and steam ovens for home available for more money. I think the Anova is about $800 CAD, built-ins for home range from around $1 k - $ 9 k CAD, depending on size, features, construction, design, warranty, whether you get them plumbed in vs. having a tank you fill, etc... I've read that you can also sometimes get used commercial ones for comparable prices if you know where to look. If you're getting a built-in, you might want to get a combi-oven instead of a CVAP oven so that you can use it as a multitasker rather than needing a separate appliance for higher temperature cooking. Definitely check to see what the max. temperature is if that's the way you go though, as combi-ovens vary depending on what they're intended for. Also check to see how precise their temperature and humidity control and sensing is. Not all combi-ovens can do bagless sous-vide due to lack of precision. Some use steam for faster heat transfer (hence "speed-oven") and a way to maintain juicy-ness, or improved baking, which don't have the same requirements.
@@seabream that's super helpful, thanks, stranger!
@@Metalaco You're welcome! I only saw that video a few weeks ago and almost immediately my mind was spinning with thoughts about how much that could change the way I cook things at home. It's a bit of a rabbit hole all the variations in different appliances though, so definitely do your research. Like, for instance, there are some ovens with steam out of Japan which are specifically optimized for various kinds of thick toast dishes, which isn't something that's really part of my everyday life and wouldn't have occurred to me just from looking at a listing. The Anova is appealing partly because there's a fairly active user community who discuss their experiences with trying out different ways to use it, various aftermarket accessories they like, and how to handle unexpected quirks with them. It's still pretty new. I think that they've only been shipping for a few months, so I'm personally going to let them work out any early production teething problems before really considering buying one, but it's a really interesting concept.
You are one cool dude!!! I doubt that there are many other restaurant owners that could explain their "behind-the-scenes" operations so efficiently and succinctly.
Cheers and thanks for posting.
Has the “Shining” ever happened to you in one of those walk ins? Probably one of the best walk ins to get stuck in haha.
You're practically reading my mind. Just a couple of days ago I was thinking about how I much I like the videos in your home kitchen, but also how much I enjoyed the Wursthall vids and how you operate in that professional space. That's going to be super interesting!
Kenji you are the absolute best. Your deep knowledge coupled with your passion for learning and teaching is astounding. Never stop being you man.
Enjoyed this way more than I thought I would, incredibly interesting and your enthusiasm is contagious.
So happy to see an amazing establishment like this in my hometown. Thank you for bringing your craft to San Mateo!
I saw the word "thanks" on one of the taped notes in the kitchen. I'm not sure I've ever seen that on a note in a commercial kitchen before. All-caps and exclamation marks, but not that. A little thing, but oh so damn important.
People who work in restaurants should have their own awards show! Some of the hardest work in the world is working in and running a restaurant! You have my deepest respect! 🥂🥂🥂🥂
That is the cleanest and most well organized prep area I have ever seen! I recall our walk-in being a mess most of the time and organized dry storage was a pipe dream.
I'm a culinary student and covid hit right in the middle of the semester while my classmates and I were running a restaurant on campus. Watching this makes me miss it so much. Thanks for sharing.
ive just graduated in hospitality management a few months ago trust me i feel u bro
"This here is pretty cool" says Kenji coming out of a walk-in fridge. hehehe
Absolutely love it! Although I have a totally unrelated background, for a while now it has been my dream to start a restaurant. So much to learn from you not only in cooking and food science, but also in organising. Love how you show us and teach us everything so openly. Thanks for sharing! If I ever travel to the US in the future, visiting your restaurant would be an absolute must.
This was awesome - brings back really fond memories from my time working at a pub,. Thanks so much for sharing!
You are my hero! I loved this tour. I can’t wait to finally sit down and eat at your restaurant when it’s safe.
Wow what a blessing to have literally a dream restaurant space for both boh and foh! Seriously so much space and equipment
My exact thought's. Every place I have worked there was never enough space. I have worked many places that kept their space very clean. However Kenji's place is amazingly clean top to bottom.
Like seriously you are a generous person. I mean it’s one thing to make and share recipes online but it’s another giving tips about how you’re running your own business or details about your actual plates. Kudos.
OMGOODNESS! I have never left a comment for ANYONE OR ANYTHING! Thank you! I love this video...I worked in the industry a LONG time ago and still study food and food prep daily as a hobby. It is not what I do for a career but I loved the life and the work. It is a lot of work, late nights, planning, commitment and tenacious. Plus being a little deaf to those who say you can’t do that....I appreciate your attention to detail and making your idea a reality.
you never picked your beer back up
And the walk-in fridge switch
That’s his place as the Owner for his employees to clean up after and mumble fkn kenji
Alchy
He did. It was ever so slightly off camera but @ 10:42 you can see him place it down again in the mirror.
hahaha true
As someone who both cleaned commercial kitchen exhaust systems/actual kitchen deep cleaning and managed a restaurant kitchen, I super appreciate how clean the entire operation is. Hope the pandemic was, is, and will be kind to you!
Oh man, after working in a kitchen this was so satisfying to watch. Everything labeled and organized in a fashion that makes sense and is easy to follow. Really cool insight and confidence to show the behind house, loved it.
Thanks for the behind the scenes tour! I’ve enjoyed my meals at Wursthall before the pandemic and this is a great reminder to put in a pickup order for lunch sometime this week. Great seeing how the downstairs wunderbar is coming along, too.
Cheers for that Kenji, that was really interesting. Your place looks great. I hope you can get up and running and back to normal soon!
Playing with adjectives that end with -bar and using it as the name for the place has been popular in Germany ever since for obvious reasons. The "Wunderbar" is of course a classic, some weird and funny ones spotted over the years: "Furchtbar" "Lösbar" "Erregbar" "Therapierbar" "Unsichtbar" "Unverwechselbar" "Vorzeigbar" and - drum rolls - my favourite: "Die Unkaputtbar"! 😊
You forgot "sonderbar" which does mean "weird" or "special bar". And this pun would be spot on.
@@lilreddev Right, that's inexcusable, thanks for the nice addition!
Thank you, Kenji. That is the cleanest kitchen I have ever seen!
Thanks so much for the tour! I live in the midwest, but as soon as I'm able to get out to your neck of the woods I can't wait to stop by your restaurant!
This is one of my favorite of your videos my man
damn... i'm over in the east bay but i'd love to visit one day, especially once indoor dining resumes! i'm sure it'll be worth the hour and a half commute. love your work
This brings back so many memories. I started working in restaurant/bars when I was about 16. I worked in this industry for around 25 years. I think the only thing I have not done is the books and own one. I've been a sociology professor (albeit adjunct) for 20 years now. So it has been awhile since I've been in this world. I never worked in any place as nice as yours.
When I first saw this come up in my suggestions, I wasn't thinking it would be that interesting. After watching it, though, I was totally engrossed the whole way through. As someone that has never worked in a commercial kitchen, I'm amazed at all of the logistics required to keep the system running smoothly. Great job, once again, Kenji!
I’m definitely visiting post-quarantine!
Damn, that's amazing. Its much larger then I imagined and I love all those beers. As a Dutchie living in Germany, I'm loving the theme! Thanks for being an inspiration for a lot of us!
Really awesome to get a behind-the-scenes tour like this. Thanks Kenji!
Kenji this was so incredibly cool. Thanks so much for taking the time to make this.
Kenji's up late! Oh wait he's on the west coast, just me up late.
Its 10:37 am in Germany
I'm moving to the SF Bay for college soon and going to Wursthall is one of my top priorities once I'm there!
Very cool setup! Thanks for the tour. All the best to you and crew during this tough time.
one of my favourite of your videos, so insightful and awesome to see how your mind works when it comes to efficient workspaces.
I used to work in a restaurant as my first job, and it was really interesting seeing how much each restaurant is Very similar but also Very different. I'm looking forward to my next trip to California after covid to come check it out(the dining area) in person.
Beautiful restaurant chef hopefully one day I will be able to go dine in your beautiful restaurant cheers from Lake Tahoe
Wow, just like most jobs, you don't know 'til you know. Then you see a whole different world with things manufactured for specific features. It's just so interesting, and I love, love the hidden bar. What a trip. Way to use your down time to create something amazing. Rock on and thanks for sharing!
Fun to see. Thanks Kenji! I've been cooking your recipes throughout the pandemic with great fanfare!
Looks great! Can’t wait to visit eventually! :)
Cheers from Whitefish Montana! Just got home from my bar shift an hour ago.
Your kitchen is very clean! I hope to visit once the pandemic ends :)
Also kudos on the four minute turn times; I thought seven minutes was extraordinary!
Oh hey! My cousin lives in Kalispell.
That's my temporary residence until next month! I never visited here before relocating three months ago and I am happy with my decision :) it's beautiful here! Excited to visit California once the pandemic ends
Coolmanbob7 cool. My sister lived in Bozeman but all of Montana is gorgeous! I hope you like fishing and hunting or at least big skies.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt my buddies caught a few on a short raft trip this past week but I was the loser of the day
;( Not sure if I'm ready for a -20 degree winter yet
@@Coolmanbob7 You get used to the cold fast, as someone who lived in Northern Canada near the Arctic circle I highly recommend looking at winter gear that is recommend for temperatures below what the average winter temperature are so you can get used to the cold. Also have an extra warm blanket available at night in case you're cold at night as well as keeping your hands and ears warm, even if you're driving somewhere dress warm, you may not look cool in a big warm jacket but if you're in an accident or you're stuck or your car breaks down you will appreciate being able to be comfortably warm 😀
After it's -40 or colder for a week or two cold doesn't really exist until it's around -40 again but it's still important to bundle up and stay warm so you don't get frostbitten.
This was bloody amazing to see. So satisfying, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the tour! I traveled from Canada to visit your restaurant so it was cool to see what goes into making great food. It's amazing how much of a restaurant is "hidden" to the public.
Love seeing this. It is always impressive to me how restaurants like this can consistently, quickly get many varieties of food out to customers on time. I start losing it when one kid wants a PB&J and the other wants a grilled cheese.
That restaurant has so much space!!! Kenji's rent must be out of this world.
Such a great tour and so interesting, thanks for posting. Feels more complicated than a factory.
Kenjie at the end asking about any potential health code violations is every restaurant employee of all time no matter how stringent you/they are. The thought of accidently overlooking something regardless of how confident u r in ur closing crew is deeply relatable!
That was super cool to see, thanks for sharing. We haven’t seen a bbq or outdoor grilling video in a while. It’d be cool to see some more of that especially considering next week is a holiday and lots of us will be out grilling. Also if you have any grilled dessert recipes that would be awesome.
that was dope the secret bar seemed really cool I'd love to visit whenever I go california
That's more or less a dream restaurant for me. It looks amazing and the space is so efficient with everything downstairs
Inspiring work, on many levels. Love, Respect and Appreciation!!!
Wow, Bionade made it to the states? Impressive. I remember when they started to become a thing here in Germany
Truee always thought its a german thing
I wish it would come to the UK, I miss it so much.
I think he imports it
12:42 Ah, so that's the room where ... the sausage gets made....
We just assume that it happens
But noone else is in the room where it happens
;)
It's Hamiltonian sausage.
You make it sound so Sweeney Todd, along with Hamilton!!
it's been half a fucking decade oh my god just shut the fuck up
I just want to visit the hall!
Much love from Chicago. Thank you for the walkthrough, Chef!
Oh my, had some real tramautic memories coming up when you showed the stairs down to the prep.
The amount of times i've flown down the stairs to the prep kitchen is insane.
Wunderbar is a great name 😅 Greets from Germany :)
When things are back to “normal” I’d really like to go up the Pacific Coast Highway, and Würsthall is definitely going to be a stop.
its just Wurst
His restaurant is up PCH?
Not on the coast but not far.
Amazing! Thanks Kenji!
Loved this so much! There’s a chapter in “kitchen confidential” where bourdain talks about a lot of this stuff, but it was really cool to see it visualized.
Thanks for closing the loop on where your beer ended up; I was genuinely worried you might have lost it in that labyrinth.
I used to live in San Mateo and went to that space when it was an Italian restuarant then it became the Taproom (which closed suddenly right before the Super Bowl - apparently the owners didn't pay their staff so screw them) and I've eaten in wursthall many times. You guys have really made it a great space with excellent beer selection. Hopefully we will be through the other side of this and when I am back in town I can go for a beer and food.
Excellent vid. I worked in a food cart in Portland for a while and have great respect for efficiency and proper layout. In a cart, your miz is life ;-) and 4 minutes is smokin' fast. Love it.
Thank you so much for posting this! Thoroughly enjoyed it!
I got really excited about that dry age fridge until i found out they cost more than 1.3k
I've been to Wursthall a few times, since I work near San Mateo. Absolutely love the restaurant and can't wait to visit Wunderbar (sp?) once it is ready!
Impressive. Looks like a ton of work and a whole lot of thoughtfulness. You're exemplary!
Always wanted to see the backend of a restaurante where the real magic happens. Thank you!