Winterhalter supplies multi tank, pass-through and undercounter dish and glasswashers for prestigious London refurbishment
The Arts Club in London’s Mayfair is surely one of the most glamorous refurbishments ever. Dickens, Kipling and Trollope have graced its corridors and current members include illustrious ‘A list’ celebrities from Grayson Perry to Gwyneth Paltrow.
It was a multi million pound project and, in order to achieve the high standards of catering they required, the Club brought in Raphael Duntoye from La Petite Maison as Chef Patron. ABDA Creative Design & Build was appointed to design, supply and install the catering operation to the very high specification Raphael’s approach demanded. When it came to selecting warewashers to cope with the prodigious number of plates and glasses the Club’s restaurants and bars produce, ABDA went with Winterhalter.
“The members and guests here expect the very best as a matter of course,” says Kevin Waterson of ABDA. “We were looking for reliability, top quality cleaning results, the ability to cope with big volumes, and the best possible after-sales service. We know Winterhalter provides all four.”
The number of warewashers needed for The Arts Club reflects the sheer size of the catering operation. Winterhalter supplied an MTR high volume rack conveyor system in the basement, which looks after the main restaurant; a GS500 pass-through on the first floor, looking after the private members’ restaurant; a utensil washer for the pastry kitchen; three undercounter glasswashers in the bars and waiter stations; and an undercounter utensil and cutlery washer in the main kitchen.
Brian Clivaz is managing director of the Club. “We need warewashers that can reliably deal with the high volume of items – efficiency is very important for us,” he says. “However, it’s also essential that the equipment is able to cope with top quality fine china and glassware.”
Thus all the glasswashers were supplied with Winterhalter’s RoMatik reverse osmosis systems. These purify the water to such an extent that glasses come out perfectly clean. “That’s a major benefit for a prestige site like The Arts Club,” says Kevin Waterson. “It doesn’t only save time, in terms of hand polishing, it also gives better, more hygienic cleaning and saves on breakages which, with high end glassware, can be a significant cost.”
“The glasses are very clean and clear when they come out of the machines,” confirms Brian Clivaz.
Whilst reliability and speed were the two critical warewashing criteria, energy saving was important, too. As one of the leading technology innovators, Winterhalter was an obvious choice. Hence the big MTR warewasher is fitted with energy- and water-saving features such as a heat pump and four-stage filtration system. Similarly the pass-through dishwasher and UC glasswashers have heat exchangers and special rinse systems that cut consumption radically. In the case of the GS500 Energy+ dishwasher alone, Winterhalter estimates running costs will be reduced by around £1,000 per year, compared to a conventional model.
“This was a difficult project to organise – different areas of the site were completed at different times, so there was no ‘seven day window’ to sort all the warewasher equipment, and often access was a big issue,” says Kevin Waterson. “Winterhalter dealt with everything admirably.”
“We chose Winterhalter because, even in extreme situations, we know the equipment will cope,” he adds. “Winterhalter is a first choice for this level of operation.”
Editors notes:
Established in 1863, The Arts Club was the first in the world and therefore the only one that does not need a prefix (such as ‘New York’ or ‘Chelsea’). See theartsclub.co.uk
Winterhalter at The Arts Club:
- MTR multi tank system with heat pump and powered curves
- 3 x UC Energy undercounter glasswashers plus RoMatik reverse osmosis systems
- GS 360 utensil washer
- UCXL undercounter utensil/cutlery washer
- GS 515 Energy+
More info on all machines is at www.winterhalter.com/uk-en/
ABDA Creative Design & Build www.abdadesign.co.uk / kevin@abdadesign.co.uk