Retro Tools Meet Culinary Cool

By Jen Karetnick

Vintage kitchen gadgets make a comeback.

Chefs and home cooks everywhere tend to salivate over shiny new kitchen items. But when it comes to the basics—mashing, juicing, grinding, tenderizing—it’s also helpful to look to the past. Decades ago, these culinary tools were made of heavier, sturdier metals, which years later are still capable of getting the job done. With all of the technological advances in the kitchen, however, there’s certainly every reason for both professional and lay gastronomes to keep up with trends. While chefs at some of the finest restaurants in Las Vegas, such as Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro, Nobu Caesars Palace, Rao’s and Old Homestead Steakhouse, may have moved on to more modern tools, we’re taking a nostalgic look back at those retro potato mashers, meat grinders and juicers to see how the kitchen gadgets
of yesteryear would have been used to create today’s dishes.

Photograph by Sabin Orr

Photograph by Sabin Orr

Photograph by Sabin Orr

Photograph by Sabin Orr