I Cannot Believe How Much Ice It Takes to Run a Raw Bar

or how many kinds!

The hottest new restaurant in Los Angeles, is actually its coldest. Cento Raw Bar, from chef Avner Levi and director of operations Adrien D'Attellis, is the seriously stunning sister to Cento, one of my favorite spots of all time to get pasta (and banana pudding tiramisu!). The restaurant opened last month and looks like a giant, sexy, Italian aquarium with the incredible swoopy scalloped textured plaster walls and custom seafood tower trays designed by creative director Brandon Miradi.

Cento Raw Bar, is well, as the name indicates, is dedicated to seafood in raw, sauced up, and chilled down formats — plus a fun and robust cocktail selection. I figured that the operation required a lot more ice than most other restaurant formats — given that they use ice not only to serve the seafood but to chill it down after cooking it — but I was curious as to just how much ice is required to keep Cento Raw Bar in business on a daily business. Here is what Avner told me —

The restaurant seats 75 people when you include the patio. And to serve that many people dishes like hamachi crudo with sour cherries, stacked deviled eggs, and the aforementioned seafood tower loaded with oysters and scallops on the half shell, plus a very good piña colada, requires three types of ice.

Avner says they have a Hoshizaki ice machine which is top of the line and is capable of making 1,000 pounds of cubed ice a day. He also bought two pebble ice makers specifically for cocktails and the seafood towers. And then there is the speciality ice that they buy from an outside company that is crystal clear and either cylindrical in shape or a large cube.

He estimates the raw bar goes through:

500 pounds of pebble ice per day

300 pounds of cubed ice per day

50 pounds of the speciality cubes

for a grand total of 850 pounds of ice per day.

ice in beverages, ice on plate

I asked Avner if he is ever afraid of running out of ice, to which he replied, “every single day.”

To help prevent this, he has two chest freezers. One is filled with the fancy ice that they buy and the second holds two hotel pans full of ice that sits there as back up for the day.

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ICYMI: Last week, I dove into what makes a dish and a dish? And how much can you tweak a recipe before something is no longer what it is supposed to be?

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They did run out of ice during one of the first days the restaurant was open and Adrien had to run out to the nearest Chick-Fil-A to buy at least 50 pounds of ice. They will sell you 15 pounds bags for just $3 (which is honestly a better price than bags of ice from a grocery store or 7-Eleven!)

The most American thing about me is how much I love ice. Do you have a favorite kind? Would love to know in the comment below.