In the Kitchen with TERMAC – Libertine Restaurant
By Terence O’Reilly, Jr. and Sean O’Reilly, Sr.
During his 30 years in the restaurant business, Derek Davis has cooked with the area’s best chefs, and earned the reputation as one himself. He is credited with bringing California cuisine to Manayunk, and now, with energizing the Kimmel Center neighborhood in Philadelphia by opening Libertine Restaurant at 13th and South.
From all his experience, he has learned this: For the “behind the scenes” sanitation, maintenance and equipment aspects of the restaurant business, it pays to hire experts to give you peace of mind.
Letting professionals worry about regular maintenance and equipment upkeep, creative chefs like Davis can focus on Libertine’s Mediterranean-influenced contemporary American cuisine. His brunch menu features a toast bar with house-made bagels, complementing house smoked short rib pastrami and potato hash. Other menu favorites include a lobster burger with tempura shrimp, heirloom tomato, baby arugula and citrus aioli on a potato roll. “Secret Chicken 2.0” has to be reserved ahead, but the dark and crispy sweet chicken, served with smashed fingerlings and spring peas, is worth it. He has named his cocktails after famous “libertines” such as Casanova, Isadora Duncan and Freddie Mercury, and offers locally brewed bottled beer.
For his peace of mind, Davis relies on TERMAC. “I wouldn’t open a restaurant without TERMAC,” he says.
In the kitchen, Davis makes use of several of TERMAC’s specialized soaking, cleaning and sanitation products. A dishwashing machine and glasswasher at the bar keep dishes and glasses sparkling. G.T.O. Grease Trap Services cleans and sanitizes the grease traps at Libertine. The infrastructure at Libertine, which is on the site of a 100-year-old hotel – the Parker-Spruce – calls for state-of-the-art maintenance. TERMAC’s All Pro, which produces stainless steel, metal fabrication and kitchen ventilating systems, installed Libertine’s shelves and cabinets.
Davis also appreciates TERMAC’s 24-hour repair service, which proved invaluable at another restaurant on Christmas Day when a breaker blew, shutting down the dish machine. “If I’m open 365 days, I sort of expect the companies I work with to be open too,” he notes.
Davis grew up eating in the restaurants near Libertine, traveling the Broad Street subway and cooking at home, preferring what was seasonal. His experience and entrepreneurial intuition has rejuvenated several Philadelphia neighborhoods. Now Libertine – with its striped awnings and curtained windows setting the scene – promises to do the same.
Contact a TERMAC Representative today at 800-332-4912 or TERMAC.COM to make sure your kitchen is running as smoothly as possible.
Termac Corporation is a family-owned business serving the hospitality industry for more than 56 years with its cleaning and sanitation products. To meet the needs of this evolving market, it established a system of service and developed The Filter Man, GTO Grease Trap Services, Universal Fire Protection and AllPro Stainless Steel and Metal Fabrication.
