inthekitchen
inthekitchen
in pursuit of appyness
Small bites are a big boon for business at one of the city’ s longstanding dining institutions.
by Joelle Kidd
As the holiday season approaches, Rae & Jerry’ s becomes, even more than usual, a flurry of activity. The massive 330-seat space is a hive of excitement, with an adrenaline buzz leaking from the back of the building, where behind swinging double doors the kitchen is alive with the sounds of chopping, chatter, and searing meat.
Head chef Bill Georgakopoulos is at the centre of this seeming chaos, a quietly efficient chief of organization presiding over the restaurant’ s staff. Managing both the kitchen and catering team, it is his stalwart task to keep an eye on the ball at all times.
While the steakhouse sees an uptick in orders around the holidays, it is the flood of catering jobs that sets this kitchen abuzz. Bill estimates that over the holiday season, between 1500 and 2400 mini yorkshire puddings alone are baked, filled, arranged, and sent out to events across the city.
The extensive operation works out of a small area tucked into the back of the kitchen, surrounded by loaves of crustless sliced bread. Here, a small army of ladies tightly rolls and chills fancy pinwheel sandwiches, while chef Bill whisks to and fro, trusty mini muffin tin in hand to form lacy cups of melted asiago cheese or tart shells moulded from flattened bread.
While Rae & Jerry’ s has been the city’ s perennial pick for stately steakhouse dinners since 1957, the restaurant’ s move into catering is relatively recent. Steve Hrousalas, longtime owner( since 1975) began testing the waters of the catering business in 1996. Worried
44 ciao! / dec / jan / two thousand fifteen