When the last table is cleared and the line cooks go home, another shift begins in some New York kitchens. Alexander Diaz and his team of cleaners arrive to wash away the greasy buildup that a day of service leaves behind.
The New York Times profiled Mr. Diaz and his crew in a piece published October 24. The short description of the article says the team works to remove grease from restaurant kitchens after closing. The item available to NYC Restaurant Voice contains little beyond that, and this report does not go further than what the Times has said.
The work is a part of restaurant life that diners rarely see. A commercial kitchen takes on grease every night it operates, and it settles on equipment, surfaces and walls. Cleaning it is routine, repeated work, and it falls to people who are mostly out of view by the time the dining room opens again.
That is the premise of the Times piece: that the people who return a kitchen to a usable state after hours deserve attention alongside the cooks whose names appear on menus. Mr. Diaz leads the team described in the article.
The details of how the crew works, which restaurants it serves and how it is paid are in the full Times article. Readers who want those specifics should consult the original reporting at nytimes.com.
For a city where kitchens run late and turn over early, the profile points to a part of the industry that keeps the rest of it running.