Rockpool Dining Group
Australia's Largest Dining Group Convinced By Innovative Dishwashing Solution
Neil Perry is one of Australia’s leading and most influential chefs. He is also the Chief Brand & Culinary Officer at Rockpool Dining Group, one of Australia’s oldest and most awarded dining groups, with a portfolio of over 54 venues ranging from premium to casual fun and fast casual.
We’ve got 15 great brands going from Rockpool Bar and Grill, Spice Temple, Sake, Jade Temple, Rosetta all in our premium space. Then we have our fun casuals like Bavarian, Munich, Fratelli Fresh and then we have our fast casuals Burger Project, Sake Jr. We started with MEIKO a number of years ago because Crown were very heavily vested in them and we heard nothing but fantastic reports from the Crown guys where they really go 24-7. So we got our first one down in Rockpool Bar and Grill in Melbourne, and really since that time, the reliability has been fantastic.
Technology is really important for our venues, right down to our dishwashers making sure that they all have the most modern technology and are able to deliver what we really strive for, which are beautiful clean, sparkling plates, cutlery or glassware. It is really important to keep up with technologic changes in the restaurant industry, as you are always looking for efficiencies. Efficiencies where you can save on labour or time are always key on decision making. And with the reverse osmosisM-iClean U you do see an advantage with that. The GiO is a great technology to have.
For clients who want their glasses and dishes to sparkle, improving the water quality is essential – and that calls for demineralisation or osmosis.
On average a person in one service would use definitely 4-7 glasses which is a considerable amount to 100 people during service. The Sommelier chooses the glassware and looking after them is a priority.
"Our glassware is reasonably expensive and a M-iClean that helps us reduce breakages is a really key part of our decision making in terms of washing up." We spend on average thousands of dollars so anything that reduces that cost is an amazing thing. We have a small back of house comparatively to the size of the restaurant itself. We can’t have huge amounts of equipment, and realistically that back of house glass washing and dishwashing areas are really key. People outside of the industry I don’t think, realise how key those two elements of a restaurant really are. And they are almost the heartbeat of the restaurant, when you have an unreliable dishwasher that is constantly breaking down, it affects every single part of the business. The dishwasher is the central part of a restaurant and you only really have one most of the time, so if it breaks down you are back to hand washing which is too labour intensive.
We are never waiting long for service technician or spare parts. Anything that has broken down has been quick to fix. Obviously the way that the MEIKO dishwasher has the intuitive handle which changes colour due to the operational status of the machine is particularly important and we find it really, really handy. The guys love using the MEIKO, it pretty much does the job for them.
"But I just want to wash up" - is what someone with less experience of glass management in the hotel and catering business might think. What they also want to do, or rather must do: take drinking glasses into consideration as part of the value chain.
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