Not long after a pilgrimage to the place of her birth, our new grill arrived regally and fully-assembled from Brampton in her very own truck. We’ve named her Nike – after the goddess of speed, strength and victory, not the shoe! But let me back up a bit as I tell you about my visit to what may be Canada’s first facility to allow for indoor grilling all year long.
Full disclosure: I’m a complete sucker for raffles both physical and online. In the real world I’ve even devised a complex and patented ballot-folding system to increase the chances of their being drawn. In the many years I have employed this cunning stratagem, I’ve never won anything, but I’m no quitter. Faced with the opportunity to enter a draw for a shiny Crown Verity (henceforth referred to as CV) BBQ at Langdon Hall, I entered almost reflexively, forgetting moments later I had done so.
I was therefore astonished, and not a little thrilled to get a call from a dear friend saying he had been present at an event at Langdon when visiting Celebrity Chef, Vikram Vij, drew my name from the drum. I was sceptical till I received subsequent confirmation, including from Langdon’s GM Mark Steenge, who told me to await a call from CV as to how to collect my prize.
As I’ve witnessed, Langdon’s brilliant Chef, Jason Bangerter, uses CV BBQs to great effect and is a fan, hence the draw sponsored by the Company. In the past I had longingly eyed CV BBQs in showrooms, and lapped up the content and recipes in CV’s glossy Elements publication. But, frankly, their products, rugged and reliable as they are, were way out of my snack bracket. They’re built like tanks, out of stainless steel, and are dragged by chefs to all sorts of events and subsequently hosed down with power washers till they gleam like new, even after years of commercial use and abuse.
The next thing I knew I had been convened by the lovely Rachel Caron, CV’s Head of Canadian Inside Sales, to the Brantford Headquarters of the company to be introduced to my prize and her many customisable features, by Mr. Andy Incitti, the President of CV no less. The company has 40 employees and was founded in 1990, but has a long and distinguished lineage before that, including manufacture of high-quality products ranging from plows to aircraft parts.
Incitti has headed up the company since 2015, bringing many years of finance and operations experience in manufacturing and engineering sectors to the job. He was persuaded to take the position by the passion of company founder, Bill Verity, for grills and the outdoors. Incitti is clearly in love of the bullet-proof nature of his products, and very proud of the ground-breaking showroom they are arrayed in.
We met in the Grilling Room, a unique facility created for both chefs and retail customers. It is a large space around which grills ranging from a relatively modest 24 inches to models the size of a smart car are arrayed. It’s dominated by a vent hood the like of which I’d not previously encountered and wired so that service calls can be routed directly via Skype to the showroom.
Once it is fully operational in 2018, it will be able to accommodate 60-70 people for dinner or a party of 8 – 10 for a training event. The beauty of it is, of course, much like visitors to high end kitchen range showrooms, guests will be able to fully appreciate the features of CV’s products regardless of what the weather is like outside.
As he fires up a five-burner 36-inch 79,500-BTU model to demonstrate its near-instant heat and power, Incitti says “Creating memorable outdoor experiences has become our mission. Home cooks are attracted by the power and reliability of a commercial grill in their own backyards.” He adds CV also makes patio heaters and has plans for more products for home users.
Once the previous incumbent of my BBQ shelter was delivered to a friend, and Nike reverently installed I was eager to fire her up. Despite being forewarned, I quickly managed to sear a finger and singe my eyebrows: the heat was that instant. We’ve made friends now, and though she still occasionally reminds me to pay attention, I’ve produced top-restaurant-quality steaks, the juiciest of pork chops, the crustiest of Neapolitan-style pizzas and amazing “baked sweet potatoes with hot buttery love injection” Ted Reader-style (he’s another CV booster) with her assistance
Nike is clearly here for the duration, and I suspect will see service by my grandkids long after I am gone. I just wish we had been introduced twenty years ago!
Note: I won my BBQ in a draw open to visitors to Langdon Hall, and subsequently visited Crown Verity’s headquarters at my own expense. The helpful folks at Crown Verity did not see nor approve this article prior to publication.
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Alex (Alex can be reached on twitter @AlexBielak)
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