GILROY
– This year’s calamari flame-ups may be more impressive than
ever thanks to Alan Heinzen, whose company built and donated eight
custom-made stoves for preparing the calamari, penne pasta con
pesto and other Gourmet Alley delicacies.
GILROY – This year’s calamari flame-ups may be more impressive than ever thanks to Alan Heinzen, whose company built and donated eight custom-made stoves for preparing the calamari, penne pasta con pesto and other Gourmet Alley delicacies.
Heinzen, assistant co-chair of Gourmet Alley and owner of Heinzen Manufacturing, also donated three washing stations, each complete with three sinks, grease pan and filter to pump out used water.
“The old stoves were more than 20 years old,” he said. “It’s time to tune up the Alley.”
When Gourmet Alley reinvented the pasta dish in response to decreased sales, Heinzen wanted to do his part to improve the massive operation. The new stainless steel equipment meets all food safety requirements. It will not rust over time, and the sinks can accommodate the three-step cleaning process of rinse, disinfect and rinse again.
“We’ve got 130,000 people, and we don’t want them getting sick,” he said.
The sinks will make work much easier for the volunteers. In the past, people had to wash the pans in five-gallon buckets after each batch. The used water ran through the middle of the Alley down to the creek.
“It was a complete mess,” Heinzen said. With the new system, all of the used water is pumped out and the Alley remains dry.
Heinzen kept chefs in mind when designing the stoves. They can be adjusted to a “high boy” which stands at a perfect height to toss a frying pan or a “low boy” which is closer to the ground for the deep sauce pans.
As for the pyro chefs, they may need a little more of a warm-up on the new stoves, said Richard Renn, who provides all the gas for the Alley.
“There will be a learning curve because there will be a lot of heat,” Renn said. He explained that the tube burners have three prongs instead of the two prongs on the old stoves. Renn estimates the flames will be about one-third hotter than in previous years.
To add a little festival character to the new stoves, Heinzen cut a garlic emblem and two flames into the face of the stoves.
