There are far less costly pieces of equipment for roasting poultry and prime rib than a $26,000 custom-made wood-burning rotisserie like the one at Two Urban Licks, a casual American restaurant in Atlanta specializing in “live fire” cooking.
However, the flame-kissed centerpiece of the dining room is well worth the money, said Todd Rushing, a partner in Concentrics Restaurants, the 15-unit multiconcept restaurant company based there.
“It has really brought drama to the room and attracted guests,” Rushing said. “On any night, you can walk in and see all kinds of different items cooking. The great visuals add to any dining experience.”
All told, the rotisserie produces 30 percent to 40 percent of the five-year-old restaurant’s entrées, Rushing said. Versatile enough to cook anything from chickens to ducks, whole pigs, lambs, salmon, sides of bacon and ears of corn, it allows the kitchen to function with less equipment. The other key pieces are a French top for sautéing, an oven, some cook-and-hold units, and a massive Civil Warera forge converted into a wood grill for steaks, burgers and kebabs.
The rotisserie, built by a local iron artisan, has four vertical tiers with spits controlled by independent motors. Foods placed on the lower tiers get the most direct heat from the fire below, while items placed higher get less heat but more smoke.
Varying the distance from the fire allows different items to cook properly. For example, chickens spin on spits on the lower tier close to the fire for a relatively quick 35- to 40-minute cooking time, while at the same time a prime rib roasts slowly on a higher tier and a slab of pork belly absorbs fragrant wood smoke even more slowly on the top tier.
The rotisserie stands above a 12-foot by 6-foot pit of fireplace brick that is large enough to hold as many as three separate fires made from different woods, distinctively flavoring individual foods above.
“If we have chickens roasting on one side and bacon smoking on the other side, we’ll have an oak fire and a hickory fire,” Rushing said.
Although some other restaurateurs have inspected Two Urban Licks’ custom rotisserie, they have not rushed to emulate it.
“They think they can cook the same food with a $3,500 grill and a $3,500 six-burner oven unit,” Rushing said. “Sure you can, but you don’t get the drama.”