If you never thought you would be envious of a kitchen, just ask David Cingari for a tour of his.

The restaurateur turned caterer spent six months designing and another six months building a 2,000-square-foot kitchen that is so state-of-the art he has a difficult time concealing his excitement as he showed it off recently.

There's the tilt skillet that boils 40 gallons of water in 10 minutes and can make 250 pounds of chili. There's an automated meat slicer that cuts 40 pounds of cold cuts daily, and a pressure steamer that cooks about 120 pounds of potatoes in 17 minutes.

And that's only a sampling of some of the high tech, high-capacity toys Cingari plays with every day at his 471 Elm St. food preparation facility. Actually, the equipment may sound fun, but for Cingari it is necessary to keep his business, Davd's Catering, running smoothly.

Every day, Cingari and his kitchen staff turn out 600 meals to feed a cadre of workers at the four office building cafe's Cingari runs in Stamford and Greenwich.

And on top of his corporate cafes, Cingari has a bustling special event catering business and a schedule jam-packed with more than 200 weddings, corporate parties, showers and anniversaries each year.

Cingari, who grew up in the industry, knows food. His father, Sam, owns the Grade A Supermarkets in Stamford.

A lifelong city resident, Cingari got a degree from The Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y., and then a hotel/restaurant management degree from the University of New Haven.

He started his career working in the banquet and catering division at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Manhattan, and in 1987 he opened David's American Food & Drink, a popular restaurant that was known for its fair prices, family-friendly atmosphere and good food.

In 1995, Cingari began dabbling in catering, mostly at the request of restaurant customers who called on him for corporate meeting and parties, he said.

In 1997, the lease for the restaurant was up, and with lifestyle change beckoning, Cingari didn't re-sign. Instead, he pursued his catering business full-time.

It didn't take long for it to take off, and Cigari opened his first cafe in 1998. As his corporate cafes found a following, Cingari was flooded by business in the buildings requesting that he cater their breakfast meetings, luncheons and other corporate events.

Now, by 10:30 a.m. daily, Cingari fills his two vans with hot entrees, homemade soups, sandwiches, salads and desserts. They are delivered to the cafes in special hot boxes that keep food warm for four hours.

Even in the slumping economy, the corporate cafe businesses thrive. In fact, it's even increased, he said, primarily because people are not going out for lunch.

Bringing food into office building cafeterias is the new trend, Cingari said, adding that the "commissary kitchen" provides huge cost savings to the managers of these buildings.

"It's the wave of the future in this industry," he said.

Sharon Olson, president of Olson Communications, Inc., a Chicago-based marketing company specializing in food service industry, agrees. Office building cafeterias have a difficult time attracting skilled labor, so they turn to companies that can bring the food in, she said.

Taking labor out of the (office building) kitchen is "a major, major trend," Olson said.

Competition is stiff, especially for the larger food-service providers, she said. But caterers such as Cingari have an advantage because they can offer personalized, fresh and inventive menus.

Institutional food just doesn't cut it anymore, Olson said. Cafeterias have to be competitive with restaurants and home-prepared food.

"Americans have an insatiable desire for restaurant-quality food," she said. "Where smaller regional caterers will find opportunities is their ability to be flexible and provide customized menus."

While David's Catering is thriving in the corporate setting, Cingari is just as busy catering special events. The economy does have an impact on that segment of the business, Cingari said, but he hasn't seen a slowdown in bookings.

"People are still going to get married," he said.

Cingari's first passion is cooking and he spends a great deal of time doing what he terms "research and development." During slow months, such as this one, he has a full-time chef going through cook books, reading culinary magazines and testing new recipes.

"Today he made 15 kinds of bread sticks," Cingari said.

Compared to 10 years ago, especially in metropolitan areas such as Fairfield County, people have more experienced palates."We totally need to stay on top of that," he said.

"He's always on the cutting edge," said Stamford resident Nancy Carlson, who has used David's Catering for events ranging from her neighborhood homeowner association gatherings, intimate dinner parties and a Christmas party for her husband's business division at GE Capital.

Cingari always has great suggestions and helps plan the event, not just the menu, she said.

"He really things about the whole picture, not just the food," Carlson said.