Keeping the kitchen cooking

COOKING UP SOMETHING: Dan DelBonis, owner of A-1 Restaurant and Supply, has installed kitchens for Caffe Itri, in Cranston, the Coast Guard House, in Narragansett, and Circe Restaurant & Bar, on Weybosset Street in Providence. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
COOKING UP SOMETHING: Dan DelBonis, owner of A-1 Restaurant and Supply, has installed kitchens for Caffe Itri, in Cranston, the Coast Guard House, in Narragansett, and Circe Restaurant & Bar, on Weybosset Street in Providence. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

Twenty-two years ago, Dan Del Bonis opened a restaurant with a partner. When that didn’t work out, he and his father sold the slightly used kitchen equipment to other restaurateurs.

And a new business was born.

Del Bonis, the owner of A-1 Restaurant Supply in Providence, now is a full-service supplier of commercial kitchen equipment, including custom fabrication and installation services. One of his specialties is hood and exhaust installation.

He provides professional equipment to bakeries, restaurants, supermarkets, caterers and government or commercial institutions with kitchens.

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The business has supported him for more than 20 years. He employs eight people, and has a shop and a showroom on Admiral Street in Providence.

“We supply all kinds of restaurant equipment, bakery equipment, supermarket equipment,” he said. “We start with the exhaust hood. That’s one of the main things we do here.”

In fact, the kitchen exhaust system has become something of a niche for the business. In a restaurant, if the exhaust fan isn’t working, nothing works.

“It’s so important,” he said. “If the fan goes down, on a Friday or a Saturday night, all the smoke will pour into the dining room.”

The focus on installing exhaust hoods came after he started dismantling hoods for kitchen clients, and realized that they weren’t well-installed to begin with.

“I saw how badly they were put up,” he said. “I got into it to help people out.”

A-1 Restaurant Supply sells new equipment, as well as reconditioned kitchens. The cost for a full setup can vary tremendously, but generally starts at $30,000 and can exceed $100,000, he said.

The difference depends on what a restaurant owner needs.

The client list for A-1 ranges from fast-food restaurants and classic clam shacks, such as Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowder House in Warwick, to full-service restaurants.

Del Bonis installed kitchens for Caffe Itri in Cranston, the Coast Guard House in Narragansett, and Circe Restaurant & Bar on Weybosset Street in Providence, among others.

Word-of-mouth has helped propel the business, he said. The restaurant business, which is a large part of his revenue, continues to attract new entrepreneurs.

Although his staff level has declined somewhat in recent years, down from a peak of 18 employees, Del Bonis said there are always new restaurant owners emerging in Rhode Island.

“There’s always someone who walks into a restaurant, and says to their friend, brother, mother: ‘Let’s open up a restaurant.’ ” •

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