Until our remodel two years ago, we worked in a submarine. But Molzan's real dream kitchen, he says, will be the one in the second Ruggles location, a shuttered Houlihan's he plans to gut and redesign. Seafood makes up most of the menu, and the kitchen is designed accordingly.
All fish is purchased whole and stored under ice in a large trough inside a refrigerator.
In another refrigerated room, the restaurant's butcher cuts the fish for preparation. That way, the fish is kept chilled from the moment it comes out of the water to the moment it's cooked. Palace Cafe's special attention to refrigeration is also evident in its common compressor system. Todd English's kitchen might strike even other Ivy chefs as odd. The oven, grill, rotisserie and smoker are all interconnected and all wood-fired.