Step into the kitchen of Restaurant Eugene or Holeman & Finch Public House, and you’ll find any number of interesting tools --- old world and new --- all equally essential to the craft. One of Chef Hopkins’s latest is the Fabio Leonardi MR9 1 HP Tomato Milling Machine from Bologna Italy. Fabio Leonardi made the first tomato crusher in 1917, the same year Fabio Leonardi Bologna was founded. Many familiar staples on grocery shelves and dinner tables, from tomato sauce to ketchup, would be unimaginable without the advent of Fabio Leonardi products. It’s a tool custom made specifically for turning raw tomatoes into a crush of juicy pulp. A visit to the Leonardi website is truly a new old world experience. When was the last time you saw navigation links like “meat grinder” “sausage stuffer” and “tomato grinder?”
At Restaurant Eugene we believe everything should contemplate tradition, knowing that at its' core, tradition is a means to pass the best in life from one generation to the next. We also have top of mind, that everything can be improved upon --- even, and especially ketchup and those other grocery shelf staples. It is precisely for this reason that we have the Fabio Leonardi MR9 1: so that we can provide the best of old and new to our guests.
Perhaps you enjoy spending five minutes trying to get ketchup to come out of a bottle. We mean no disrespect to your tradition, but we think ours tastes better. The Fabio Leonardi is here to help us make more (and better) ketchup as well as Bloody Mary mix and other tomato sauces. Other mills handle 5 pounds a minute. The Fabio Leonardi churns through 20 pounds a minute. This might not help you get a 10 o’clock burger at the Public House, but it does guarantee you’ll find plenty of home-made tomato-based goodness while Restaurant Eugene or H&F way. You can now pick up our Bloody Mary mix at the H&F Bottle Shop. Meanwhile, come check out our milled makings, and other delectables old and new at the restaurant soon.
