Let's talk...teppan yaki grills

This is what I like to refer to as Jim's dream.  Anyone who knows Jim, knows he loves him a good Japanese steakhouse.  When we first started daydreaming and planning our kitchen, Jim stated he would love a teppan yaki grill.  I thought the idea sounded awesome and who am I to squash a man's dreams like that?? 

Once the kitchen planning and appliance research got underway, we realized just how expensive the grills were and the chances of us getting that fancy grill was put on the back burner (get it???  burner???  no?  ok...moving on.).  But the stars aligned, the skies parted and we found a Gaggenau teppan yaki grill on a floor model sale at Kam Appliances.  My man was meant to get that grill after all! 

For Jim's birthday I surprised him with a fancy spatula to use just for the grill, just like the chefs use at a Japanese steak house. 

And Jen, Jim's sister, got him some fun paper chef hats (for catching all those shrimp he's going to be tossing in the air) and commercial salt and pepper shakers. 

You gotta have the legit accessories if you're going to talk the talk of a Japanese steak house chef.

So far we've used it to make an authentic Japanese steakhouse meal and it was better than going to one.  I made it to cook eggs and that was good but the eggs stuck a little and the clean up was a pain.  I can't wait to try out some pancakes on it soon.  Supposedly you can even boil water on it....not sure if we'll be trying that out anytime soon though.  When it's not in use we are thinking of putting a cutting board over so we don't waste any counter space. 

The floors are being stained this week so we have had zero access to the kitchen or basement so no work has been getting done.  Hopefully this weekend, Jim will be able to work on something kitchen and/or pantry related.  I'll be shopping for baht mitzvah dresses for my niece Sophie...the sacrifices I must make ;)