NORTHAMPTON — As temperatures remained in the 90s Thursday, local eateries were feeling the heat in their already-sweltering kitchens.
In addition to the heat wave, the ovens, fryers and grills that power restaurants can create work environments that have even seasoned employees sweating.
According to Eric Stroup, the day shift manager and delivery driver at Pizza Factory in Florence, the only word to describe the kitchen is “brutal.”
While the restaurant’s conveyor oven, which is set at 450 degrees, keeps the kitchen hot year-round, Stroup said that in current heat wave conditions, the indoor temperature “easily” surpasses 100 degrees each day.
“I’ve been doing [pizza service] for 30 years, and this is one of the hottest years,” Stroup said.
Sunia Hood, owner of La Veracruzana Mexican restaurant in Northampton, has also noted unusually high temperatures in her restaurant’s kitchen.
“Basically we’re doing all we can to try to cool it down, but it’s hot out and the kitchens are hot…. I’m asking employees to drink plenty of fluids, and I’m probably saying that every hour,” Hood said.
Further along Main Street, Local Burger owner Joe Igneri echoed Hood’s sentiment.
“There’s nothing you can do about [the heat] that I know of,” Igneri said. “You drink a lot of water. You have to.”
Some businesses have noticed the heat wave making a positive impact on their sales.
At Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters in Easthampton, barista Morgan Parker noted that business tends to trend upwards during hot weather due to increased orders for cold drinks, as well as the shop’s cool indoor temperature.
“You see more people sitting in here hanging out with the air conditioner,” Parker said.
Brian Greenwood, owner of Tandem Bagel Company in Easthampton, said that while the hot weather generally sees a decrease in food sales, an increase in the sales of cold drinks, such as smoothies and cold brew coffees, tends to compensate for this tendency.
“Because we have air conditioning, we’ve weathered this storm absolutely fine,” Greenwood said. Tandem’s bagels are typically finished baking by 6 or 7 a.m., which also frees the shop from the intense heat of the oven during business hours.
For most restaurant workers, however, beating the heat remains a concern throughout the day. In addition to staying hydrated, employees at Galaxy restaurant on Main Street in Easthampton have found creative ways to cool down in the sweltering heat, such as placing freezing towels around their necks, as well as keeping freeze pops handy.
Galaxy employee Nick Bibniek said that the cooks have grown used to working in hot temperatures, even when the heat can become “overwhelming.”
“It’s just part of [the job],” he concluded.