Behind the scenes at The Gates on Roblin

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/11/2017 (2919 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Sat., Dec. 3, 2016 The Gates on Roblin served over 1,500 meals in one night!
How much food is that?

Approximately 204 kilograms of vegetables, 211 kilograms of meat, 101 kilograms  of potatoes and 201 kilograms of dairy.

Organizing this type of food production requires serious and diligent work flow. A large part of the success of this well-known establishment lies with executive chef Toby Kidd, who has been with The Gates since it was converted into a restaurant called Green Gates in 1996. Kidd’s planning team includes a banquet chef, a restaurant chef and executive sous chef.

There can be up to 26 staff in The Gates’ kitchen and the first cook can be at work by 5 a.m. While awaiting delivery of food supplies, this person inspects and rearranges stock to ensure that there are no stale-dated items on hand and rotates supplies to ensure proper usage. The last kitchen staff person can be there until midnight, when the cleaners come.

Ray Louie, managing partner of the Gates, explains that “food prep” starts as soon as product arrives.

“We do most of our prep the same day. This allows for the freshest possible product,” he says.
Kidd oversees the entire kitchen operation and is directly in charge of all production.

While this may sound simple, it includes shipping, receiving, inventory management, menu management, quality control, food preparation, food storage, actual-day preparation, packing and transportation for off-site events, final plating, calculating costs, minimizing food waste and ensuring guest satisfaction.

Food preparation is entirely dependent on the menu for a day’s events. It can start several days before an event but the bulk of most meals is created on the actual day of an event.

To minimize food waste, all beef and seafood stocks are made on site using bones discarded when preparing certain cuts. When fileting fresh fish, the bones will be used for making stock. Veal bones are bought for use in stocks and some of the fat trimmed from prime rib can also be used.

The Gates hosts events in locations as varied as company loading docks, aviation hangers, conference centres and tents.

Off-site catering is totally customized for clients.

Louie says: “Some of our home catering events want us to do the plating and use their kitchens as well as their fine china. If we need to service the clients to that level, we need to know ahead of time to make sure we have the correct number of staff working that day. “
It is doubtful that when Fred Pugh, a researcher for the T. Eaton Company, was  building the house then called “Woodlands” he could ever have envisioned the level of activity at what is now The Gates.   

Valerie Chatain-White is a community correspondent for Headingley. You can contact her at vchatainwhite@gmail.com