A trendy and contemporary café-restaurant, located on the Kings Road in Chelsea, has incorporated a state-of-the-art Palux Topline suite into its kitchen design, completely revolutionising its kitchen service capabilities in just six hours.
The Bluebird Café, part of the D&D London group, whose kitchen is overseen by Liam Smith Laing, formerly of another D&D venue, 100 Wardour Street, needed to upgrade its equipment to deliver energy savings and a better ambient environment, whilst still producing exciting weekend brunch, lunch and a la carte menus.
Having already appreciated the benefits of Palux’s Variolift Salamander, Liam Smith Laing called in first-class catering equipment suppliers, Euro Catering, to help create the ideal solution for The Bluebird Café kitchen.
Euro Catering suggested replacing the old gas equipment with an electric Palux suite, complete with energy-saving induction hobs, an automatic rise-and-fall Variolift Salamander, steak grill and CNS Vario range.
With only a 2.8-metre area to work with, Euro Catering sought to work every inch of the available space, delivering a solution capable of serving up dishes like spiced barbecue quail, aspirale pasta (prawns, squid, chilli and tomato) and Iberico suckling pig shoulder, served with grilled hispi and baked apple.
Given that access to the kitchen was tight, Euro Catering specified a Palux Topline suite – a contemporary, heavy-duty modular suite, made from hardwearing 2mm-thick stainless steel, that could fit through single doors in sections and then be locked together to create one seamless, hygienic unit.
The suite’s induction hobs are already changing life in the kitchen, whilst the low-heat radiation Vario Range is proving ideal for boiling and frying in pans. It is also easy-to-clean, offers even temperature control and distribution across the hot-plate.
The Salamander Variolift provides the Bluebird Café’s chefs with the advantage of instant heat-up and the energy savings resulting from this. It offers intensive browning, has an adjustable height functionality and a profile that can adapt to the needs of different dishes.
With the Palux suite, the eatery is empowered going forward, as it can swap or change individual components within the Topline suite, as future needs and menu changes dictate.
As the café could not afford any downtime, the whole installation was handled overnight, being fully installed and ready for operation within just six hours, making it, quite literally, an overnight success.
D&D London says: “We are very happy with the whole install from start to finish and our chefs are extremely pleased with the Palux equipment’s performance. We noticed, almost immediately, how the ambient temperature of the kitchen has decreased to a much better and more pleasant working level than before, because of the high-performing, energy saving equipment we have opted for. This makes the kitchen environment cooler, which inspires culinary innovation and creates better staff morale.”
Euro Catering’s sales director, Justin Towns, says: “We are delighted with the levels of customer satisfaction that have emerged from this project. We know how energy-efficient, effective and ergonomic the Palux Topline is, but to have all of its sales points reiterated and repeated back to us by the client is truly rewarding and a resounding endorsement of Palux’s cutting-edge solutions.”
More information can be found at www.euro-catering.co.uk and www.palux.co.uk