In the culinary world, it’s easy to focus on the front of house or the flash of custom knives and high-end ranges. But ask any seasoned operator, and they’ll tell you the same thing: real kitchen efficiency happens behind the scenes.
In this installment of our digital feature series, “The Equipment I Can’t Live Without,” Megan Keiswetter, Director of Marketing & E-Commerce at New Age Industrial, sits down with Chef Matthew “Matt” Haney, Corporate Chef & Culinary Sales Specialist at Starliper & Associates, to chat about his go-to kitchen solutions, daily operational headaches, and the essential gear he actually relies on.
Matt brings more than 30 years of hands-on experience in and around commercial kitchens. If you ask him, his career path has bounced around quite a bit—from running kitchens and teaching food safety to handling equipment sales, manufacturing, and now landing back in a manufacturer rep role that he genuinely loves. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America with an associate’s degree in culinary arts and a bachelor’s degree in business management, Matt specializes in equipment specification, system design, product demonstrations, and dealer development. He spends his days consulting with operators across healthcare, education, hospitality, military, corrections, entertainment, institutional markets, and single-unit restaurants throughout Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware.
Below, Matt shares his early family prep routine, his firm stance on classic culinary debates, the five items he would keep in a stripped-down kitchen, and why back-of-house organization and smooth equipment welds keep a Friday night dinner rush from completely falling apart.
From Saturday Morning Meatballs to European Brigades
Most chefs can point to the exact moment they got hooked on kitchen life. For Matt, it started at home as a kid with an all-hands-on-deck family meal prep routine.
“At our house, it was a Saturday morning routine for my brother, sister, and me to wake up, eat a bowl of cereal, and sit in front of the TV to watch cartoons,” Matt recalled. “After an hour or so, my mom would come in with a bowl of meatball mix, make us wash our hands, and tell us to roll meatballs while we watched TV. It was always like that—all kids helped peel carrots for the salad, set the table, or slice the bread, and nobody argued.”
As they grew older, Matt naturally took on more of the cooking. Working alongside his mother while watching PBS cooking shows filled their weekends with trial and error—until the family started telling him his food was genuinely good. Hearing that reaction planted the seed for a lifelong culinary path.
That path became official at age 14, when Matt filled in at a neighbor's pizzeria during a chaotic Friday night rush.
“My older brother called my parents and asked if I could come in to help them get through the night,” Matt shared. “I went in, made pizzas with my brother, and was handed $50 in cash. That was it for me—I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do something I enjoyed doing in my free time.”
Working later in a traditional brigade under European chefs really solidified his ambitions. Their discipline, professionalism, and deep knowledge proved to him that cooking wasn't just a job—it was a lifelong career.
The Bare-Bones Five: Core Back-of-House Equipment
If a crisis forced a kitchen to strip its back of house down to the absolute bare minimum, what five items survive?
- A Really Sharp Knife: Essential for precision, speed, and safety across every station on the line.
- Heavy-Duty Poly Top Worktable: “I spent three years working in a butcher shop, and I quickly realized how indispensable poly top tables actually are. For butchery, food prep, and ease of sanitation, if I could only have one style of table for the rest of my life, the poly top would be it.”
- Char-Broiler: The primary engine for high-heat searing, grill marks, and quick turnaround times.
- Tilting Skillet: An operational workhorse capable of braising, searing, boiling, and batch cooking.
- Walk-In Refrigerator: The non-negotiable anchor for food safety, ingredient preservation, and volume storage.
💡 Chef Matt’s Pro-Tip - Poly Top Versatility & Sanitation: “If you can only specify one style of worktable for your prep line, make it a heavy-duty poly top. Whether you’re running raw protein butchery, knife-intensive prep, or quick station teardowns, a poly top gives you the absolute best balance of blade protection, versatility, and fast, sanitary wipe-downs.”
The Unsung Hero of Daily Survival
When asked about the most overlooked piece of infrastructure in a commercial kitchen, Matt pointed straight to storage and organizational gear. He learned their value the hard way while working as a young cook at a 150-seat jazz venue in New York City.
“Music was the focus more than food when I arrived there,” chef Matt continues. “Because of that, the kitchen equipment was beyond basic, which made the work extraordinarily challenging. I remember the day the owner came back with a half-sized #10 can rack... it was better than Christmas for us. Storage tools free up space, ensure proper rotation of product, and allow for a more sanitary workplace. Operating without can racks, dunnage racks, or pan racks early on showed me what a crucial, but often overlooked, role they play in a successful kitchen.”
Kitchen Choreography: The Pit Crew Speed Rack
A smooth dinner rush runs on zero wasted movement. To keep line cooks from crossing paths or leaving their posts during service, Matt structures mobile pan racks as self-contained operational hubs.
🏁 THE PIT CREW METHOD
“Each station in my kitchen had its own speed rack that was really an extension of their position on the cook line,” Matt noted. “Bain-maries filled with tools, all your station prep and backup, side towels, seasoning, and any items necessary to complete your dishes had to be on those racks for service. They were like a pit crew’s cart on race day. It had everything you could possibly need and could be rolled into place at a moment's notice. With one trip from the walk-in, you could have your entire station set in just a few minutes.”
💡 Chef Matt’s Pro-Tip - The Single-Trip Station Set: “Treat your station speed rack like a pit crew cart on race day. Stock it before service starts with everything you’ll need—bain-maries with tools, backup prep, side towels, seasonings, and finishing items. Setting your entire station in one trip from the walk-in eliminates constant mid-service trips across the line and keeps your cooks focused on cooking.”
Equipment Built for Clean-Down: Welds, Edges, and Custom Carts
Deep cleaning at the end of a shift is non-negotiable, but poorly finished gear creates physical hazards for line staff moving at high speeds.
“To see a well-trained crew break down and clean their stations at the end of the night can be truly impressive—it almost looks choreographed,” Matt said. “But it’s no fun to catch your towel, scrubby, or your fingers on a poorly welded joint or sharp edge when you’re moving fast.”
That is why equipment construction matters. “The finish on New Age products is fantastic! Fully welded joints and de-burred edges prevent grime and debris from collecting in tight seams, giving you confidence that you won’t get sliced when running your hands over equipment during end-of-shift cleanup.”
Matt also highlighted custom engineering flexibility as a major differentiator when evaluating manufacturers:
“The food prep and chopper station represents one of the things I love about New Age. A customer was having an issue with their product flying everywhere during prep because the dicer they were using didn’t align with their food pans. They came to New Age looking for a solution, and the engineering team found a simple way to customize an existing cart to solve their exact problem. When someone approaches New Age with a need for a custom solution, the answer to ‘Can we do this?’ is almost always a resounding yes!”
Industry Reality vs. Pop Culture Romance
While television shows love to romanticize culinary flair, Matt emphasizes that day-to-day kitchen leadership requires a completely different mindset.
“People assume most chefs exercise their creativity every day by dreaming up new dishes for the menu,” Matt explained. “While most chefs are creative, we are most often using that trait to solve operational challenges behind the scenes, so guests never notice a hitch.”
Creative problem-solving is what keeps an operation on track when an essential piece of equipment stops working right in the middle of a Friday dinner rush. As Matt put it, most chefs are problem solvers first, and culinary artists second, once those operational fires are put out.
Campsites, 3 AM Comfort Food, and Rapid-Fire Kitchen Debates
We were dying to know the person outside the commercial kitchen. What’s a better way to really get to know a person than learning all about their personal food quirks?
On Late Night Comfort Food: When asked about his late-night comfort food, Matt admitted that real-world exhaustion overrides culinary sophistication. While working in Los Angeles, his go-to was Korean BBQ—well worth driving to even after a long shift. “But at home, the 3AM microwave quesadilla hasn’t failed me yet. Two ingredients. Forty seconds. Dinner is done. This happens way more often than Korean BBQ does,” he admits. Who doesn’t love a good midnight snack?
On Using Only Three Ingredients Forever: And if forced to cook with only three ingredients for the rest of his life (excluding salt and pepper)? “With eggs, butter, and flour, I could think of countless things to make. For some reason, my thoughts immediately went to a campsite in the remote woods, but in a professional kitchen, those three ingredients are the foundation of so many great dishes. Maybe that’s an idea for a cookbook or a show on Food Network—a 3-ingredient cook-off!” shared Chef Matt. And we’re pretty sure that’s a genius idea. You’re welcome, Food Network!
Every chef has strong opinions about what belongs on the plate, so we couldn’t resist the opportunity to conduct a rapid-fire session. Here is where Chef Matt stands on some of the greatest culinary debates of all time:
- Megan: “Does ketchup belong on a hot dog?”
- Chef Matt: “Eat what you like, but everyone should try mustard only at least once in their adult life.”
- Megan: “So that once they try mustard on it, they’ll realize they should have stuck with ketchup? Haha!”
- Matt: “Nice try! Once you go pure mustard, you realize you don't need to cover up a quality frankfurter. Give it one real shot — no ketchup safety net!”
- Megan: “Is a hot dog a sandwich?”
- Chef Matt: “No, a hot dog is a sausage.”
- Megan: “Whoa! It IS a sausage! You’re completely right. Who would’ve thought?”
- Matt: “Right?! People get so caught up in the bread debate that they forget what's inside the casing. I'm just here to bring some culinary logic back to the cookout.”
- Megan: “How about a burger? Is a burger a sandwich?”
- Chef Matt: “Yes, depending on what country you’re in, they call a sandwich a burger. There you have it, irrefutable proof.”
- Megan: “Allegedly, the dictionary and USDA also classify a burger as a sandwich.”
- Matt: “See, it’s not even an opinion anymore—it’s official policy!”
- Megan: “Does pineapple go on pizza?”
- Chef Matt: “In Venice, they put horse on pizza. For me, that opens the door for pineapple, so yes.”
- Megan: “No way! Pineapple on pizza is a strong yes for me, and I’m all about sweet and savory. Pizza is one of my favorite foods because it is so versatile, but that sounds like a big ole nope rope for me.”
- Matt: “Haha, fair enough! I’m not saying I’m ordering horse on my pizza anytime soon either, but it definitely makes a little pineapple look completely normal by comparison!”
- Megan: “Should there be beans in chili?”
- Chef Matt: “Kevin Malone’s recipe demands beans, and I’m not one to challenge him.”
- Megan: “Oh my gosh, The Office will always be one of my all-time favorite tv shows, period.”
- Matt: “It’s legendary! Kevin’s recipe stands as the gold standard in my book.”
- Megan: “For brownies, edge piece or center cut?”
- Chef Matt: “I’m a center guy. But, how about cake? Edge, I want the right frosting balance. Please don’t give me the piece with the flower or balloon on it, it’ll ruin my ratios.”
- Megan: “I am center all the way. I have no shame when it comes to it either. I’ll straight up cut out a big square from the center, even if it’s the first piece coming out of the pan.”
- Matt: “Now that is a bold move! Taking the center piece first is a true culinary power play, but honestly? I respect your commitment to maximum fudginess.”
- Megan: “How crispy should bacon be?”
- Chef Matt: “It depends on where it’s being used (that’s my one Chef answer for the survey).”
- Megan: “Why do I feel like you’re setting a trap? Also, it needs to be perfectly in between — not too crispy, not too soft, and a nice medium brown on the edges.”
- Matt: “No trap here, I promise! You completely nailed the target for a classic BLT or breakfast plate. But throw that same bacon on a burger or crumble it into a salad, and the physics change completely!”
- Megan: “Where do you put the cheese on a burger?”
- Chef Matt: “I don’t. Burgers are meant to be served with no cheese and mustard only like the way they were invented.”
- Megan: “We need to have a serious conversation about how every burger deserves the opportunity to hold a minimum of two pieces of cheese — one on top of the patty and one on the bottom of the patty. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
- Matt: “Two slices?! You’re basically building a cheese sandwich with a meat filling at that point! I’ll stick to my 19th-century purist roots — just a beef patty, mustard, and a hot griddle. Enough said.”
Smart Investments & Future Kitchen Layouts
When advising up-and-coming chefs and facility managers on capital purchases, Matt shared a guiding principle attributed to Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard: “People on a budget cannot afford cheap things.”
Wow! Let’s stew on that powerful quote for a moment.
“Buy less; buy better.” - Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia Founder
“I recommend that you scrutinize every piece of equipment you purchase and make sure that what you’re investing in—even if it is a low-cost item—delivers maximum benefit for your money,” Matt advised. “Find a way to get your hands on these items in person. You’ll be able to spot high quality versus low quality almost immediately.”
💡 Yvon Chouinard - The Cost of Quality: When Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard famously stated that “people on a budget cannot afford cheap things,” he was speaking to a philosophy that applies just as heavily to commercial kitchens as it does to the rugged outdoors. Chouinard has long argued that “cheap products, made poorly and thrown away quickly, are killing people and the planet.” Instead, his foundational business mandate is to “weigh quality first, against on-time delivery and low cost.” For operators looking to outfit a line that survives the test of time, the goal is simple: “purchase less stuff, own a few things that are very high quality that last a long time, and that are multifunctional.”
Looking ahead at commercial kitchen design, Matt foresees labor efficiency driving layout decisions over high-tech novelties:
“Labor costs are always on everyone's mind. While some think high-tech automation or robotics will solve current problems, there are immediate, low-tech steps you can take today. Something as simple as the right-sized utility cart can turn multiple chaotic trips across the kitchen into a single stop. I foresee foodservice professionals working with efficiency experts to redesign current workspaces to achieve the same output with a leaner workforce.”
💡 Chef Matt’s Pro-Tip - The In-Person Equipment Test: “Before placing an order for new gear, find a way to get your hands on it in person first. Run your hands along the welds, feel the frame weight, check the casters, and look at the edges. You’ll be able to spot the difference between high-quality construction and cheap equipment almost immediately.”
About Our Partner: Starliper & Associates
Starliper & Associates provides equipment solutions to the commercial foodservice industry across cooking, refrigeration, food preparation, warewashing, storage, transport, and other critical areas throughout Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware.
Through his role as Corporate Chef & Culinary Sales Specialist, Matt brings firsthand back-of-house experience into that process, helping operators think beyond specifications and focus on how equipment will really perform once the kitchen gets busy. Learn more by visiting the Starliper & Associates Official Website.
Connect and Follow Our Teams
Stay up to date with more chef insights, equipment ideas, operational tips, and behind-the-scenes looks from New Age Industrial and our foodservice partners:
New Age Industrial
- Facebook: @NewAgeIndustrial
- LinkedIn: @New Age Industrial Corp Inc
- Instagram: @newageindustrial
To learn more about improving commercial kitchen workflow, exploring equipment solutions, or connecting with Chef Matthew Haney and the Starliper & Associates team, follow them on social media:
Starliper & Associates
- Facebook: @starliperassociates
- LinkedIn: @Starliper & Associates
- Instagram: @starlipersocials
Thank you for following along throughout The Equipment I Can’t Live Without series as we explored the tools, layout strategies, and back-of-house innovations that keep top commercial kitchens running smoothly every day.
📚 Related Reads - Explore the Complete Series: That’s a wrap on The Equipment I Can’t Live Without series! Catch up on previous interviews with top foodservice leaders and chefs across the industry:
- Designing for the Dinner Rush: An Interview with Chef David Ash (Zink Foodservice)
- Why the Ultimate Kitchen Workhorse Doesn't Plug In: An Interview with Chef Danny Cerqueda, CEC (The Hansen Group)
- Engineering BOH for Efficiency: An Interview with Chef Keith Robins (EPI Kitchen)
- Maximizing Mobility in Commercial Kitchens: An Interview with Chef Brandon Jackson (Curren Solutions)
