Wheels of Fortune

Rotisseries capture the flavors and popularity of open-flame cooking on a larger scale

By Shari Goldhagen, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/15/2003

It was on a family camping trip that the light bulb clicked on over Marcus Haight’s head. Head chef for Lark Restaurant in West Bloomfield, Mich., Haight was cooking whole fish on a spit for his kids when he realized that it was just the sort of preparation he wanted for his upscale eatery.“I knew that kind of rotisserie cooking would work in my operation,” Haight says. “I thought the spit might be the kind of product that I would have to invent, that the equipment might not exist. But I found exactly the grill I was looking for on the Internet.”

That product is a twin rotisserie that boasts dual heating and has no electric motor. Instead, the spit is turned by a six-position locking system that lets cooks rotate food with a hand-operated crank.

“With a standard grill or traditional rotisserie, you don’t have nearly the heat control you do with this grill,” Haight says. With the unit he bought, “you can adjust the height of the cooking surface a full 18 inches. You can put foods right near the fire if you want or get a really great blaze going, raise the spit, and not scorch the product.”

Lark has a large screened porch where, during summer, Haight serves grilled specials every night. While a chicken or two usually makes the rounds on the spit, a roasting-pan attachment gives Haight options for a variety of fish and pork dishes.

“We’ve done everything from squab and pheasant to potatoes” on the rotisserie, he says. “The wood smoke and the smells from the food create quite a customer draw. Often guests say they’ll have whatever is cooking.”

TAKEOUT THEATER
Haight isn’t the only chef to notice that rotisseries can turn out more than chicken. Pronto, a two-location gourmet shop and cafe in Philadelphia, keeps rounding out its menu with new rotisserie creations.

“We do a lot of carryout, and chicken is huge in that segment,” says Billy Mignucci, owner. “People love to be able to take home whole meals.” The two units combined sell 35 to 40 birds per day, by far the most popular item, he says.

Because rotisserie cooking doesn’t require constant monitoring, the items are not only good sellers but also labor-efficient. Chickens can be roasted with minimum preparation and then held under a warming lamp until purchased. The procedure has proved so effective that Mignucci gave his chef license to experiment.

“The first thing he did was come up with different ‘blessings,’ our way of saying different styles of chicken,” Mignucci says. Mediterranean and Italian are among the offerings. “Because of the popularity of those rotisserie items, our chef branched out and tried some wonderful new grilled dishes.” Among them have been pork loin stuffed with dried fruits and spices; roasted duck; and rack of lamb.

While the variety of foods prepared on rotisseries keeps expanding, manufacturers say the basics of equipment haven’t changed much in recent years. Innovations largely have been in design and add-on features

“There’s a lot more theater going on in rotisserie cooking,” says Randy Karns, CEO of a Simpsonville, S.C.-based equipment manufacturer. “New features might include more glass so you can see more of the meats as they rotate. You want the food to look appealing. The rotisserie can serve as a strong tool to draw customers in.” R&I

Shari Goldhagen is a New York City-based freelance writer.