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The Test Kitchen in Worcester: Eat. Critique. Repeat.

Niche Hospitality's Executive Chef de Cuisine, Neil Rogers, preparing food for Worcester Foodies.

Chefs preparing the first course at Test Kitchen

You could call it a fresh take on a cocktail party. An underground dinner. Or even a culinary love-fest. Whatever you call the Niche Hospitality Group’s Test Kitchen’s first-ever public tasting event, one thing’s for sure: Executive Chef de Cuisine Neil Rogers and his team wowed guests as they prepared and served their six-course, fixed-price “Nose to Tail” menu in the test kitchen space adjacent to Mezcal Tequila Cantina in downtown Worcester.

Niche Hospitality's Executive Chef de Cuisine, Neil Rogers, preparing food for Worcester Foodies.More than 25 members of Worcester Foodies, a self-proclaimed group of “wandering consumers of tasty foods” were first to sample the test kitchen’s fresh takes on local favorites. Niche’s team of executive chefs worked face to face with diners, answering questions while guests sampled, mixed and mingled in roving cocktail-party style. Each dish on the “Nose to Tail” menu was inspired by one of their concept restaurants, and all cocktails, wine and beer served were hand-chosen to complement the evening’s featured ingredient, locally sourced pork from Chimney Hill Farm.

Mike Covino speaking to the Worcester Foodies during the inaugural Test Kitchen EventPlaying with food is business as usual at Niche. Owner Mike Covino, and his executive team of chefs, managers and wine and beverage experts use the test kitchen to develop menu offerings for their eight regional restaurants in Worcester, Leominster, Wellesley and Providence including local favorites Bocado Tapas Wine Bar, Mezcal Tequila Cantina and The People’s Kitchen.

Hosting tasting events like this gives Covino and his crew the opportunity to get feedback from diners first hand. “We have a loyal group of people (in Worcester) who want to dive into our food and restaurants. This is our chance to learn from them,” Covino said. He hopes the test kitchen will be a breeding ground for new talent, too. “We want to put out better food, flavor and texture every year and this is the perfect venue for this.” The test kitchen also serves as a commissary according to Executive Chef de Cuisine Neil Rogers, who hopes to bring more locally sourced products to all of the Niche restaurants.

There are plans to host more events like this for the public at the test kitchen location. Said Covino, “We’re hopeful this will be another boost to the Worcester dining community.”

Worcester Foodies Celebrating 50 Months at the Niche Hospitality Group's new Test Kitchen in Worcester

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Chef Michael Muscarella: The Man Behind The Burgers

Chef Michael Muscarella from The Fix Burger Bar on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA

The man behind the burgers just might be one of Worcester’s most unlikely chefs.

Michael Muscarella, chef at The Fix Burger Bar on Shrewsbury Street, began his professional life about as far away from the kitchen as you can get. With a marketing degree, Muscarella was an inside sales manager for a company that dealt in heavy machinery — excavators, wheel loaders and the like.

“I was good at it and the money was good, but I just wasn’t happy with it,” Muscarella says.

So, he threw it all away and did something radical. Muscarella enrolled at Salter College to study culinary arts. He’d always loved food, but until that pivotal moment had never considered making it his life. He’d already spent a quarter of a million on his marketing degree, so he sidestepped the big culinary arts schools. But he wanted some education before jumping in. Then, when a friend of his became the general manager at the Whistling Swan in Sturbridge, Muscarella got his first taste of working in the kitchen. It’s a make it or break it industry, but Muscarella was a quick learn. And Whistling Swan led to his next job, and a formative experience at that — working in The People’s Kitchen under then-chef Bill Nemeroff.

“For me, that was awesome,” the 37-year-old Muscarella recalls. “TPK was doing a new menu every week. They were throwing everything away and starting over.”

It was a learning environment — the kind that demanded creativity — and the standards were high. When Nemeroff went on to head up Ceres Bistro, then under the management of Niche Hospitality Group, located at the Beechwood Hotel, Muscarella went with him. That’s when Niche’s Michael Covino approached Muscarella about a new venture. The concept was simple, but required the right flare — a restaurant devoted to burgers.

“So, burgers are a really classic dish. It’s an iconic American dish. And it’s a great dish,” Muscarella says. “It’s ground beef, soft bun, french fries, you only have a couple of ingredients, but because so many people have experienced it, you have an opinion about it — a fairly informed opinion. So, any sort of dish like that I feel that it’s really difficult to get just right.”

With a population full of burger experts, nearly everyone has a place they think has the best burger they’ve ever eaten, Muscarella says. His goal has been to make The Fix that place.

So, what does make a good burger? For The Fix’s chef, it’s a flat top burger — cooked on a griddle rather than a grill, allowing the meat to cook in the fat.

“I want a little bit of crust, good seasoning, a solid quality piece of meat,” Muscarella says. “It’s all about the texture. Just enough crust.”

The Fix’s burgers run just under a half inch in thickness. From there, the options are robust — 20 to 30 different toppings, 15 different sauces.

It’s a simple food, honed to perfection.

“Just because something is more complicated and more difficult to make does not mean it is necessarily better,” Muscarella says. “I really enjoy this concept because of the kind of vibe it has. It’s not super expensive. It’s comfortable. We have interesting food, really great cocktails. I find that more interesting. I’m not interested in what super-rich people are eating.”

The Fix Burger Bar has an extensive menu of not only meats, but fixin's.The concept is spelled out clearly right on The Fix’s website: “The Fix menu is designed to make you feel good. We think juicy burgers, cold beers, house-made sodas and spiked shakes do just that.”

It’s the perfect challenge for the one-time sales manager turned chef. Working with a small crew in the kitchen, Muscarella enjoys the fact that the success of the food is up to him and his team.

“If we want to start serving eel burgers then we can do that,” He says.

They don’t serve eel burgers (yet), although The Fix has offered up bison burgers, lamb burgers, duck burgers, wild boar burgers — yes, there’s a house-made veggie burger, too. The most popular is the crunchy burger, made with lettuce, fried prosciutto, parmesan crisp, potato chips, garlic mayo, mustard pickle and served on a sesame roll.

When it comes right down to it, the food, the atmosphere — Muscarella’s whole reason for jumping into the long-hours and hard work of the restaurant business — it all has to be deliciously fun.

“Why is it so great?” Muscarella asks. “Because it is so great. You’re going to have tasks that look almost insurmountable — like the wheels might fall off tonight, but somehow you pull it together … this happens all the time … you pull it together and make it.”

The Fix is located at 166 Shrewsbury St., the former location of Mezcal.

House Grind Burger with Focaccia Roll from The Fix on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA
House Grind Burger with Focaccia Roll from The Fix on Shrewsbury Street in Worcester, MA