Behind Above the plywood: up, up and away

Contigo got its lungs this morning.

The crane arrived at 7 am to lift the three largest pieces of HVAC equipment onto the roof. The heaviest one weighs about 900 pounds, the others a little over 100 a piece.

In a restaurant, the most important function of the HVAC equipment is, of course, to suck the grease and smoke and other cooking odors out of the kitchen. The ventilation motors also blow fresh air back into the restaurant. It will be tricky but important to get the balance of the two just right at Contigo, because the wide open kitchen is located next to the front door. If the HVAC technicians and engineer get the balance wrong, every time the door opens we'll end up with a wind tunnel. My HVAC equipment will also supply heat to the dining room in an efficient way that partially utilizes the heat generated by the cooking. Clever, no?

On a side note, the only piece of cooking equipment that doesn't have to be under a hood is the wood-burning oven. It vents naturally, like a fireplace. Apparently not every jurisdiction allows this. At my friend Russell Moore's new restaurant, Camino (set to open within the next couple of weeks), the city of Oakland required him to install an exhaust fan over his pizza oven and a separate one above his massive stone hearth. This is one of the few instances where a city outside of San Francisco has more stringent requirements.

Comments

[Anita]

kind of interesting that you can install a wood-burning oven with no HVAC, but wood-burning fireplaces are now banned in SF. (Not that I agree with the ban, mind you... I just find it curious.)

[art]

Looking good...

When you say it vents naturally you mean it is directly vented to the outside right? It has it's own chimney.

Do you have an air conditioner or is that not necessary in SF?

[brett]

Art, yes. The wood-burning oven is directly vented and has its own chimney.

[EB]

I have to tell you... all this 'behind the scenes' stuff is so fascinating. I think a lot of us diners take it for granted.

[catherine]

Damn, wished that I had heard the crane from across the street. That would have been a show worth watching! I love the new front windows, will they slide open?

[shuna fish lydon]

at least you have return air equipment... suffice to say I am working somewhere with no ventilation and it's pretty awful on hot days like this week.

[Sean]

You can almost see our house from a couple of the shots :)