Sunny side up
Emily Hauser
It’s Sunday morning and you and the kids are finally in the same place at the same time. Sure you could celebrate with cold cereal and milk at the kitchen table — but doesn’t a poolside meal of French toast and grilled cantaloupe sound better?
Exactly. That’s what Vito Blandi thought, too.
His business, family-owned and -run Smithtown Appliance, keeps him very busy. Busy enough that he sometimes doesn’t see his wife, Christine, and their three little girls for more than a tired goodnight at day’s end — so weekends are important, and making them special is a priority.
The family installed DCS by Fisher & Paykel’s full Liberty series in their backyard, overlooking their pool, in the summer of 2007. There’s a 30-inch grill, a 30-inch side burner and griddle, access drawers, a warming drawer — in short, an outdoor kitchen. Built into a robust stone counter, the Liberty Collection looks sleek and inviting, and it certainly fits beautifully with the Blandis’ landscaping and their home’s exterior. But how often do the Balndis really cook out here?
Well, when the weather’s good, “every single weekend,” Vito laughs. “We go out there in the morning, everybody picks a different dish and we whip it up. Then the girls jump in the pool, and we start thinking about what we’re going to throw on the grill for lunch. Later, we’re putting big sirloins on there.
“It’s our life,” he sums up.
Vito does the majority of the family’s cooking, and part of the appeal of the Liberty line is the freedom it gives him to involve his children in the process. “People can be on all sides of the barbecue; you can flip your own burger.”
Five-year-old Bridget and 3-year-old Sarah may not be turning their own meat yet, by they are “Daddy’s little helpers,” Vito says, “especially Bridget. She’s my little sous chef, standing right there, next to me.” One can safely presume that young Grace will be eager to join the party as soon as she can.
Vito says that while the girls don’t yet share all his excitement for the equipment per se — “It’s more a vehicle for their cheeseburgers to them” — watching the quick installation of the Liberty components was a big deal indeed: “It was like building a skyscraper for them.”
Vito conveys his feeling for grilling passionately: “I just love the whole art-form.” And as a dedicated barbecue man, Vito admits that he was surprised, at first, that DCS could have come up with something genuinely new. “I thought I had had the top of the line,” he says, “but once you finally get to experience that DCS ceramic technology, you understand.”
The ceramic technology is found in the Liberty grill’s ceramic rods running under the grates. “They really, really intensify the searing,” Vito reports, before singing the praises of the grate system itself, which efficiently channels drippings away from food on the grill, avoiding any unsightly and unsavory burn-off.
Then he’s on to the warming drawer: “It’s my best friend in the world,” he says, placing another round of French toast on a plateful already there. “I only wish I’d moved it up and stacked another one underneath.”
In fact, he loves the system so much that, almost from the moment he had it in place, Vito started recommending the line to shoppers at his appliance store. “I want my customers to be like, ‘Dude, that was insane!’” And, he asserts, that’s exactly how people have responded. Some have even ordered precisely the same setup that the Blandis have as a result of Vito’s exurberance.
“And being a family business,” he continues, “we form some pretty close relationships with our customers, so we know how they like it. I’m the guy who comes over to your house to make sure you know how to use everything…. It’s a trust issue with a family business.”
Family comes first in Vito’s life, but friends run a close second. Soon after they had installed their outdoor kitchen, the Blandis found themselves hosting an impromptu party. For a bride and groom.
Christine’s good friend was getting married and the wedding party had made their way to a local park for pictures. “But they’d forgotten to get a permit!” Vito says.
So Christine gave her husband a call and the whole afternoon was rearranged. Photographs were taken in the family’s picturesque backyard, while Vito “fired up the barbecue and made some snacks.” Just like that, they had a party going for about 50 people — and one very relieved happy couple.
Admittedly, it’s not entirely surprising that Vito could rise to such a challenge. Even what he prepares on an average day (you know, the kind of day where 50 guests don’t show up out of nowhere) covers some pretty broad territory, from lobster tails to the grilled cantaloupe and French toast he is about to set in front of the girls. “I use honey with a lot of stuff on the barbecue,” he says. “It makes a really nice, sticky glaze. I do all kinds of vegetable and chicken with a little balsamic and honey. And I’ve made my Italian gravy out here,” he adds with a tone of excitement, “start to finish.”
With summer upon us, it’s a good bet that Vito’s grill will fire up at least as much as it did last year. It’s a big piece of what makes his family’s weekends just right. Or, as he puts it, “Our backyard is our life. It’s my American Dream.”
(C) Taste, Summer 2008
