Unusually warm summer making work ‘really hard' in hot restaurant kitchens, say chefs

Irish Times

3 days ago

For those working over a hot stove, this year's 'unusually warm' summer has been making life more uncomfortable.
Restaurant workers in Dublin city agreed this was the worst summer heat they had experienced in recent years and said the reliance on fans, rather than air conditioning, meant they were getting little relief.
[
Why is it so warm this week and what is a heat dome?
]
'Usually it's okay, but today's gonna be hot, worse than normal,' said Lucas, a server in barbecue restaurant Pitt Bros in Dublin city centre. Head chef Hauyp has worked in the restaurant for almost six years and said: 'This year is the worst.'
Lucas said: 'If we're busy, like completely full, then it's a problem, but running around you just don't notice it. It's surprising that not many customers complain about it.'
READ MORE
He said he persuaded the restaurant owner to install air conditioning (AC). 'I personally asked the owner for AC … I said it was better to have three weeks of AC than nothing,' he said.
Met Éireann
has described the weather as 'just below the heatwave threshold' and expects temperature highs of 25 degrees and above to be sustained over the weekend.
Manuel Cabeza of Forno 500, a pizza restaurant on Dublin's Dame Street. Photograph: Laoise Murray
At Forno 500, an Italian restaurant which is named after its super-hot pizza oven, Chilean chef Manuel Cabeza said it was 'easily 30″ degrees inside their kitchen.
The staff work every day beside a wood-fired oven that can reach 450 degrees. 'You are inside like a cavern, but ... for us it's normal,' Cabeza said.
'We don't have air conditioning, just a power fan', he said. 'If we didn't have a fan it [would be] impossible, we'd have to close the restaurant.'
He described winter temperatures as 'perfect' for working with a wood-fired oven, but said the summer months were always a challenge.
Across the street at Kathmandu Kitchen, server Raj said there was a 'double pressure' due to the heatwave.
The kitchen was hot already from tandoori ovens, stoves, machines and deep fryers, but now the air flow was not helping to cool it down. 'The wind itself is hot. It doesn't help,' he said.
In comparison to previous years when the staff 'wouldn't even feel' the heat, Raj said this summer was different and said they were taking 'extra steps' to work comfortably in the warmer environment.
To counteract the heat, they had a mixture of fans and air conditioning and opened the doors to let fresh air in.
Raj said most of his colleagues were from Nepal and that 'this [weather] is cold for us'. While running around fulfilling orders, they drank home-made iced fruit juices and lots of water.
The customers were not suffering more than usual, Raj said, because 'they come to eat spicy food, it's always going to be hot'.
Hauyp, head chef, and Lucas of Pitt Bros barbecue restaurant. Photograph: Laoise Murray
Divyanshu, a part-time worker in DiFontaines Pizzeria, said he was suffering in the heat because of the lack of air conditioning.
It is 'extremely hot, especially this week ... because of the weather' in the kitchen. 'We have fans – they do work, but it can't beat the heat.'
They have a small fan inside and staff can cool off when they take a lunch break. Divyanshu has to change clothes before going home and must drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.
Mauricio Bezerra, at Smokin' Bones in Temple Bar, was eager to show just how hot the kitchen was with the grill turned on, even with fans and air conditioning on and before customers arrived.
'Just think of a shift of 12 hours. It's hard,' the Brazilian said.
He said the lack of fresh, cooling air meant kitchens in Dublin city centre were warmer than those in Brazil.
'It's worse than last year,' he said. 'The weather now is weird, to be honest. Last year was not normal, but this year it's too hot.'