Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1376323
I t's taken more than three painstaking years to develop, build, and finally execute what daring owner Alan Nahman calls CookChill, a bold new showroom/design center/restaurant/modern dwelling all in one. The innovative concept, from Nahman's company Manna Distributors, is truly the first of its kind. Step into the clean, contemporary two-story space built by Nahman and Houston designer Scott Strasser, and you'll find 15 live kitchens with state-of-the-art appliances built for both residential and commercial use. And by "live," Wolf's innovative built-in countertop steamer and a BlueStar salamander that broils scorching hot and quick at home just like the restaurant pros do. As for the name, cook-chill is a food-prep term often employed by caterers and banquet chefs; it simply refers to the technique of fully cooking food then rapidly chilling it. Swing by most days, and you might catch resident chef Jay Johnston cooking on the gleaming seven-foot-long copper-and-brass-fronted La Cornue Chateau 165 range (with matching hood) — one that will set you back more than $150,000 — or the equally lauded AGA range, a pistachio cast- we mean you can literally turn on a burner, preheat an oven, do a load of dishes, freeze ice (the Hoshizaki ice machine freezes spherical ice), and see how each machine cooks, bakes, steams, cleans, chills, and more. Best yet, they encourage you to do so. Nahman has grand plans to bring in local and visiting chefs to demonstrate the myriad appliance features and play around in the kitchens, whipping up anything from gelato to pizza to rotisserie chickens. Here you'll find the latest in high-end culinary technology, from a French- door convection oven that doubles as an air fryer by Monogram to COOK, BAKE, CHILL AND WASH BY LAURANN CLARIDGE. PHOTOGRAPHY JACK THOMPSON. This made-to-order La Cornue range with matching hood has gleaming copper and brass accents and is part of the lauded French line's Château 165 series. 42