The chef’s toolbox: Modern and old standbys

Look closely into the open kitchens of the Washington area’s most interesting restaurants. You’ll spot excellent visual representations, side by side, of two recent trends in American restaurant cookery: the emergence of modern technique and the rebirth of rustic, home-style cooking. The days of setting up the line with water baths to hold containers of stocks and purees are fading, as is the use of tongs, ladles and, in some cases, gas-fired appliances. In their place: induction burners, wood-burning grills, oversize tweezers, sauce-filled thermoses and the occasional can of sodium alginate or calcium chloride.

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Chef Enzo Fargione strikes a James Bond pose in the kitchen at Elisir in the District. His smoking gun is just that, used to inject smoke into dishes just before serving.

Katherine Frey / THE WASHINGTON POST

Small Chix brand towels, rolled up and tied with cotton butcher’s twine, are used at Wit and Wisdom to wipe the borders of finished plates before they go to guests.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

At Wit and Wisdom in Baltimore, using thermoses is one way to hold heated liquids, such as beef, chicken and pork jus, during service.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Chefs at Wit and Wisdom use levers to control the placement of grates on the restaurant’s wood-burning grill.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Chef Cedric Maupillier uses oversize tweezers to place wood-fired head-on shrimp on top of grilled mackerel at Mintwood Place.

Astrid Riecken / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

At Mintwood Place, chef Cedric Maupillier uses a Magic Bullet mini-food processor he bought at Costco to puree soups to order; this one's a smoked potato soup.

Astrid Riecken / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Corporate executive sous-chef Zachary Mills of Wit and Wisdom pours heated sauces into pan placed on an induction burner, which will then hold them at the proper temperature during service.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Wit and Wisdom’s open kitchen blends modern and traditional cooking methods. The cast-iron skillets and casseroles hanging overhead are used in the wood-burning Jefferson grill, oven and rotisserie that serve as the kitchen’s focal points. Closer inspection of the line reveals induction burners, a circulator used for sous-vide cooking; an Alto Sham oven that holds purees and cooked chickens at serving temperature through service; plate warmers; thermoses of heated sauces and jus; garnish trays; and under-counter refrigeration units. Behind that kitchen’s wall is a separate kitchen that handles most of the menu’s appetizers and all the desserts.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

The roto-evaporator at Rogue 24 in the District works like a still; the device was designed for perfume extractions. The boiling point is reduced by lessening the atmospheric pressure in the system, creating a gentle extraction. The restaurant uses it to process herbs and flowers for cocktails, and for peppers: Capsicum cannot be distilled, so what comes out, from say, habaneros, is floral — not spicy.

Dayna Smith / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Chickens begin their roasting journey on the wood-burning rotisserie of Wit and Wisdom's open kitchen.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

A Jefferson grill, similar to one that existed at Monticello, uses a pulley to raise and lower the grate over the wood burning grill of Wit and Wisdom's open kitchen.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Chef Enzo Fargione shaves truffles onto veal tartare at Elisir. Inspired by watching servers at Coldstone Creamery stir extras into ice cream on cold slabs of marble, the chef had marble serving dishes created so guests could assemble their own tartare. Drilled holes hold cornets of add-in garnishes. Balsamic glaze is drizzled on the marble, then dotted with toasted hazelnuts. A Japanese spoon holds vinaigrette. The rest of the prep is up to the guest.

Katherine Frey / THE WASHINGTON POST

Chef Cedric Maupillier uses a large knife to cut and place while preparing meat and poultry dishes inside his kitchen at the Mintwood Place, a new restaurant in Adams Morgan that just opened three months ago.

Astrid Riecken / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Chef Cedric Maupillier puts the finishing touch on a tagliatelle dish at Mintwood Place by grating cheese on it with a microplane.

Astrid Riecken / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

A ham is set out in waiting for the dinner session at The Four Seasons' Wit and Wisdom. The restaurant's open grill area where cooking by wood is king with the the wood burning Jefferson Grill whose rack rises and falls, a wood burning oven and a wood burning grill, are all on display to customers. Other items include special thermoses for sauces, and individually wrapped plate wipes. The restaurant also has a Josper grill in the main kitchen. Next to Wit and Wisdom at Pabu, their Japanese restaurant, they have a robata grill heated by binchotan, or Japanese White Oak charcoal.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Special grates for resting cooked meat are stacked in waiting for the dinner session at Wit and Wisdom.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Chef de cuisine Michael Fusano drops a vacuum-packed packet of lamb into a circulator's water bath for sous-vide cooking at Elisir.

Katherine Frey / THE WASHINGTON POST

Microgreens and other finishing touches stay fresh in small garnish trays at Wit and Wisdom in Baltimore.

Michael Temchine / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Some tools of the trade at Elisir include: tweezers, a ball whisk, melon ballers, a truffle shaver (also used for garlic chips), a silicon pastry brush, an oyster shucker, a ceramic knife, a chicken egg shell cutter and a quail egg cutter.

Katherine Frey / THE WASHINGTON POST

A delicate technique is required to assemble the Green tiger tomato/olive oil/ricotta/apple/basil blossoms dish at the restaurant Rogue 24.

Dayna Smith / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

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