Lago, Orlando, Fla.
By Donna Boss, Contributing Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 5/1/2009 12:00:00 AM
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Giovanni Acireale decided several years ago that he wanted to introduce more guests to his talents as an accomplished European-trained chef and restaurateur. He had spent 38 years owning and operating Giovanni, a restaurant in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., and brought in one of his two sons as a business partner. He was determined to move to a more urban environment that offered potential for greater public exposure and greater traffic.
Acireale was further driven to take a leap into a new venture because he wanted to build a business with his other son, who was interested in opening Lago with his father. Much to Acireale's disappointment but parental understanding, his son changed his mind and took a job with a wine company.
Not long after Lago was built in Orlando and during preparation for a late December 2008 opening, the economy fell into a recession. But Acireale was in too deep to back out. He believed in his dream and was confident that his approach to Mediterranean cuisine and dining would appeal to sophisticated urban guests who appreciate a fresh, entertaining dining experience.
Today, Acireale runs Lago with his wife Nella, his nephew Jimmy Isley, and daughter-in-law Tiffany Acireale. With nearly 40 staff members, the restaurant offers lunch Tuesday through Saturday and dinner Monday through Saturday.
Lago, which means lake in Italian, is situated on the shores of Lake Baldwin in Baldwin Park, which was originally a U.S. Navy base. The area's neighborhood development includes housing, retail and other neighborhood services.
Guests walk into the restaurant and are instantly transported into an environment that awakens the senses and brings them into clearly focused attention. “From the moment you walk in the restaurant, you leave all your pre-conceived ideas about being in Orlando and enter into a European-like experience,” says Tom Galvin, principal, Galvin Design in Orlando. Galvin served as the project's kitchen designer and consultant.
The trio of Acireale, Galvin and designer Mark Mitchell, then of BSB Design in Orlando, and currently a partner at Raleigh Design in Winter Park, Fla., worked in concert to create a memorable bar, main dining room, private dining areas and an open kitchen that features a serpentine-shaped chef's table and cooking island. The equipment and station layout are reminiscent of Acireale's early career experiences on cruise ships and hotels in Europe.
The restaurant design evolved from thoughtful contemplation about a lake environment. “I walked around the lake in the morning and then in the early evening, taking note of the flora and the water, and watched the light change from more dramatic daylight to the soft hues in the evening before night falls,” Mitchell recalls. “These different experiences of day and night are communicated inside the restaurant through the space, colors and choice of organic materials. Giovanni wanted a design that wasn't too trendy, but rather would stand on its own and be timeless.”
Upon entering through a foyer that features sculptural seating, guests encounter the first aquatic impression, a water wall providing a filtered view of what Mitchell calls a “conversation bar.” “The open, circular shape invites interaction among guests who can see each other across the bar and talk more easily to those on their left and right sides,” Mitchell says.
“Maximizing space, the slender back bar of wood, aluminum and glass reaches upwards dramatically, with tensioned cable lighting providing the display a complementing sparkle to the warm glow of the bar top lighting,” Mitchell says. The bar top is quilted wood of walnut, sapele and white oak. The face of the bar wall is illuminated custom cast concrete panels. “Wood” ceramic tiles, laid in a contemporary pattern, form the bar floors.
“The wood sculpture along the back wall with formed gypsum panels at the top allows the diners in the bar booths to feel part of a large open space and still like they have an intimate enclosure around them, as well as providing a sound-dampening opportunity,” Mitchell says.
At the top, a formed gypsum panel with a warm amber light provides an intense, golden glow at night. “The wood is representative of a fallen log that you might see with its broken end and hollow nature,” Mitchell says. “The light of gypsum panels represents the sunsets.”
Recycled non-woven PVC covers the walls, producing a silky, shimmering effect and negating sound reflections. Combining aesthetics with durability, Mitchell selected solution-died acrylic carpet, faux leather made of vinyl for the seating, wood veneer-stained finishes on tables and true wood veneer impregnated with plastic laminate for the millwork. Windows are treated with 100-percent polyester that looks and feels like silk, and are recycled and flameproof. “We used cast concrete, because it felt more organic than polished stone, costs less than stone, and has the curves and thickness that we desired,” Mitchell says.
Lighting is as integral to the restaurant as the materials. The appearance of the restaurant changes from day to night due in great part to the LED lighting operated by a control system that allows staff to dim and shape the mood depending on the time of day. “Globe lights, which resemble stars, dance and weave with the curved iridescent green fabric forms,” Mitchell explains. “The illuminated pods above the booths are made of golden fabric that resembles lily pads and flowers.”
In the floor tiles, 13 points of LED lighting are scattered throughout the restaurant. “We put these and other light sources in unexpected spaces to alter the light from day to night,” Mitchell says. “During the day, there is infusion of natural outdoor light from the 14-and-a-half-foot-tall windows and expansive viewpoints, which creates an atmosphere conducive to business discussions. At night, the atmosphere is more intimate, introspective and celebratory.”
An 11-foot-tall wine display of PVC pipe and black sand anchors the end of the dining room. This leads the guest to the circular, sculptural copper and aluminum gate of the wine room rooted with reclaimed brick flooring and Mondrian-styled stained wood wine storage. This room, along with the wine lockers in the bar area and display shelving, hold nearly 5,000 bottles.
Tables on one side of the restaurant sit on floor level and face the lake, while on the other side, circular booths sit several inches above the floor and face the open kitchen. Seats line the chef's table, accommodating guests who prefer a close-up view of the action of the wood-burning pizza oven.
The circular, curvaceous shapes that appear throughout the restaurant are highlighted in the open kitchen's serpentine chef's table and 15-foot-long cooking island. “All the action takes place around that curve,” Galvin says, adding that very little prep takes place behind the scenes.
“Giovanni was familiar with a cooking island from his experience working on a cruise line and in hotels,” Galvin says. “We recreated and enhanced this at Lago.”
Black tile, black granite and concrete work together with the equipment to produce a display kitchen that is both enticing for guests and functional for staff. The placement of the three fire elements — the pizza oven, chef's table and rotisserie — also creates focal points that engage guests' attention but also allow staff to produce a diverse menu in three distinct locations in the kitchen.
When designing the kitchen, Galvin met with Acireale to determine the menu. “We didn't want a huge kitchen, so we made sure the menu was tapered down appropriately,” Galvin says. “We were able to keep storage minimal, for example, but we also had to equip the space so Giovanni and the staff would have everything needed for a diverse menu. We also equipped it for efficiency and flexibility so menus can be changed as needed within the space provided.”
“Each staff member works at different stations,” Acireale says. “This costs a little more because we must pay more employees. But the food comes fresh from each station, so it is worth the cost.”
Staff place food deliveries in walk-in dry storage, a walk-in cooler and a walk-in freezer. A wall of equipment screens the back prep area from guests' view. Staff use deep compartmentalized sinks with overshelves, worktables, a 30-quart mixer, pasta maker, a food processor and slicer to prepare mise en place for cooking stations.
In the front kitchen, the layout is arranged so Acireale can expedite from the area containing the flat grill, burners and pastry station. “All dishes come here so I can see them and give the go-ahead to be served or go back to be redone.”
The positioning is important because food must be consistent, Acireale adds. “Guests can't think that when they come back and bring friends and family the food may not be as good as they remembered.”
In the front kitchen, staff work at mobile tables to prep menu items, including salads and cold appetizers. Salad prep is in the central part of the cooking island. The menu features field green salads with tomato, cucumber, onion, hearts of palm, toasted pine nuts tossed with a champagne vinaigrette, and oven-roasted beets over baby arugula, marinated goat cheese, fresh herbs and virgin olive oil.
On the right side looking into the kitchen, staff employ a steamer to heat vegetables. They use the double convection oven to bake rack of lamb, one of Lago's most popular entrées, and accompany it with mixed green vegetables, sautéed spinach and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top.
On the left side of the kitchen, staff roast vegetables and bake pizzas with ingredient combinations ranging from smoked mozzarella, prosciutto di Parma and sundried tomatoes to sausage and rapini with mozzarella, tomato and olive oil. This area contains a slicer, pizza prep counters and warming drawers, along with wells for hot and cold ingredients.
The rotisserie oven allows staff to provide sage and lemon-stuffed chicken, leg of lamb, roast beef, rabbit and pheasant. “When cooking with this piece of equipment, I like the fact the grease comes off the meat and into a container,” Acireale says. “The slow cooking process gives flavor to the meats and allows us to cook it perfectly each time.”
Across an aisle, chefs work with fryers to make calamari. “Fryers are positioned close to the middle on the back side, so anything coming off the fryers is in the proper zone,” Galvin says. “If they would have been on the other side, staff would have to walk too far to deliver the product efficiently.”
Two ranges sit next to the fryers, allowing staff to sauté red snapper and top it with arugula, shrimp, crab, kalamata olives, pine nuts, capers, roasted garlic, tomato and olive oil. Staff also sauté chicken stuffed with mozzarella, wrapped in prosciutto and topped with sun dried tomato pesto cream aside sweet peas. A small broiler above allows staff to brown or melt cheese on a menu item as needed.
Staff use the grills for pork loin over mushroom, lardon and ramp risotto with apple Madeira sauce; pan-seared snapper with arugula, olive oil, garlic, black olives, shrimp and topped with lump crab meat; and a 16-ounce grilled rib-eye with parmigiano roasted potatoes, sautéed spinach and gorgonzola fondu. Appetizers such as Portobello mushrooms served with asparagus, goat cheese and pesto sauce also come off the grill.
Crucial to the efficiency of the kitchen is placement of refrigeration to give chefs easy access to ingredients. Overshelves also help position ingredients strategically so they are always within easy reach.
Warmer drawers also allow staff to place ingredients in the proper spot and keep them at desired temperatures. The positioning of hot and cold wells also contributes to efficiencies. “We put ball valves to close up the drains on the hot well, so we can make it cold if needed for holding garnishes or other cold ingredients,” Galvin says. “This gives chefs the flexibility to change ingredients without adding a lot of extra equipment.”
On the right side of the kitchen the dessert prep station contains an ice cream unit, dipper well, a worktable, refrigerator, and warmers for hot fudge and other toppings.
“When you have an open kitchen, the staff must expose themselves to guests,” Acireale says. “We are all challenged, because we must work in a clean environment.”
Acireale refuses to compromise on cleanliness for any reason. Staff continuously wipe down equipment and clean up their stations.
“We put in removable kick plates that are attached to the legs of equipment to prevent food from getting underneath the equipment,” Galvin says. “Food has wings and ends up in unbelievable places. This is one way to help alleviate the problem.”
Acireale applies the same high standards of working toward perfection in the kitchen to the service. “Service staff must pay attention to the customers, which seems obvious but it must be felt by the guests. For example, I believe that servers must really listen to guests, respond to them and make sure all details are attended to. For example, no plate should be taken until everyone is finished.”
The attention to details and the courage to create a restaurant with what Mitchell calls “memory points” positions Lago to make a difference in the Orlando market. Acireale, Mitchell, Galvin and the restaurant's staff are combining organic materials and equipment to introduce something fresh, which is always welcome in any era, location or economy.
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