Winterhalter fits in with acclaimed restaurant’s ethos
Since opening in 1987, Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham has established a reputation for the quality of its food. Soon after owner and head chef David Everitt-Matthias and his wife Helen started their restaurant a recession hit the country, forcing them to be careful with their money, developing a menu based around the imaginative use of cheaper cuts of meat and local, often foraged, ingredients. This approach has seen them gather an enviable array of awards, including two Michelin stars.
Despite this, David keeps his feet on the ground. “Obviously, being recognised by my peers is a great honour, but I like to carry on doing what we’ve always done, and just try to keep getting better every year”.
The restaurant is small, with only 38 covers, but David’s theatrical approach to presentation requires a wide selection of tableware in order to show off each dish to its best advantage. “We don’t have a fixed set of china,” explains David. “We use everything from handmade glass plates to heavy earthenware pieces, and a selection of patterns for different seasons. An average week can see us having to clean 2,500 different pieces, and so it’s important that our equipment is capable of handling that volume as well as the different variables involved.”
Their previous dishwashers weren’t up to the task. “In order to get the most out of the space we have, we picked undercounter units. Unfortunately, they would regularly overheat, requiring constant callouts,” says David. “It was very frustrating, we needed something that we could rely on totally.”
After much consideration, they selected machines from Winterhalter as replacements. “They’re renowned as being the Rolls Royce of the dishwasher world, and they were able to provide machines that fit perfectly in the space we had, but without overheating!”
David chose two separate undercounter units, one for dishes and one for glasses. “They are marvellously easy to use,” says David. “The control panel is very intuitive to program, and you know that the glasses and plates will come out clean regardless of how delicate or soiled they are.”
The UC glasswasher is fitted with an integrated Reverse Osmosis unit, which filters impurities from the washwater. This means that the glasses are cleaned perfectly, removing the need for additional polishing by staff once the cycle has finished. “The difference is astonishing, compared to the streaks left on glasses by our previous machine.”
It’s not just the difference in cleanliness David has noticed. “Not only are the glasses now coming out pristine, but the racks inside have reduced breakages down to virtually nil.”
As well as providing highly efficient cleaning, Winterhalter’s machines are designed to help make as little impact on the working environment as possible. “Another thing we’ve noticed and appreciate is how quiet they are,” says David. “Some machines sound like a train when you turn them on but the Winterhalters are so quiet, you wouldn’t know they were on if you were just listening!”
“Overall, we’ve very pleased with our purchases, and we’d certainly re-invest in Wintherhalters when the time comes.”
Winterhalter at Le Champignon Sauvage
There are two Winterhalter UC-M units at Le Champignon Sauvage, one for glasses and one for dishes. UC-M units are 600mm wide, 603mm deep and 725mm high.
The UC-M is capable of processing up to 48 (500mm x 500mm) racks per hour on a standard program, or up to 77 per hour on its short program. Its VarioPower washing system uses a special elliptical wash arm that creates a ‘wash-field’ of cleaning power and delivers superb results. VarioPower also allows the user to adjust the power and pressure to take account of how delicate or dirty the glasses are. The UC is tailored to the conditions on-site, a process carried out by the installation engineer, so that it works at optimum efficiency for the local conditions of, for example, water hardness.
The UC’s self-cleaning and decalcification programs cover the two main regular maintenance chores, while the error management system uses the touchscreen to warn users if anything goes wrong.
Reverse Osmosis is recognised as the best way to treat water to ensure perfect glass and dish washing results, with no smears or odours. Water is passed through an ultra-fine membrane which removes nearly all the impurities and particles that cause cleaning problems, spotting and stains.