Big show-offs
Among the many spare parts available from Mecserflex are infra-red heat lamps, fittings and controls for serveries and counters. Single and double jacket heat lamps, lamp holders and reflectors are in stock, together with high pressure tungsten halogen lamps, low-pressure food lamps and dished reflectors.
THE similarities between catering and theatre are becoming more and more marked. TGI Friday's has Disney-style "auditions" of new recruits, and a deluge of cookery programmes has seen the profile of many chefs raised to celebrity status.
So perhaps it is no coincidence to see a growth in the number of theatre-style kitchens being incorporated into staff restaurants - introducing a bit of drama into the workforce's lunchbreak.
"The design of servery counters follows a trend," says design consultant Ken Winch. "In the 1930s we had straight-line cafeteria counters, while the war years brought in ‘pig pen' serveries that reduced the amount of space needed for queuing.
Winch says the 1950s saw "free flow" designs, "and we stuck with those for years until we got food courts. Then Mîvenpick introduced us to Marche, where different counters vied for the customers' business, rather like the street markets it took its name from."
But Winch says Marche is too labour-intensive for the cost sector and only works effectively with the right personalities behind the counter. "It's definitely not effective if nothing is being sold. Clients are now asking for theatre but with total flexibility, so we are building speciality counters alongside traditional, so the menu selection can be changed on a daily basis."
His latest design, for a major financial institution, has virtually eliminated the kitchen as a prime cooking area and moved everything up front. An impressive flowing counter incorporates a pizza station (backed up with a pizza oven in the back bar unit) pasta, a grill, balti, barbecued foods, a wok station (backed up with rice cookers), a large deli counter and traditional foods. A separate island refrigerated display and cold desserts counter completes the offers.
"Customers are international travellers and they look for ethnic food on the menus. But they are not content with a Westernised version, they want to see the food they would eat in the country of origin, so the counter must be designed for maximum flexibility."
Looking to the future, Winch sees more technology, such as cashless systems, coming into the servery area. "There are very few around at the moment but, taking it to the next step, why not eliminate the cashier and let customers add up the cost of their meal and debit their smart card themselves?
Some businesses now offer their staff the opportunity to pre-order their meals by faxing the restaurant. Winch believes that cameras will soon be in place in kitchens to let staff see the meals being cooked from their computer screens and they can then order from their desks. He even envisions multiscreens in the servery area so that they can make their decisions before they even get to the counter, as well as electronic menuboards.
Case Study: Corian
Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University lays claim to being one of the oldest educational institutions in the country, set in a building of significant historical and architectural importance. When the Fellows' dining room was recently refurbished, designers John Simpson and Partners sought to create a beautiful, classical room to honour these traditions and aesthetics. They chose Corian, manufactured by du Pont, as one of their key materials.
The design of the room was inspired by ancient Greek and Roman temples and among the features - which include a 44ft walnut dining table, Ionic columns, painted ceilings and friezes - is a hot food servery designed in the style of the altar stone at the Temple of Aesculapius, Pompeii. The carved crown of the altar stone has been created from Corian.
"Originally, we planned to use marble but this would have been very expensive with a great risk of cracking and damage during shipping, fitting and use," says John Simpson. "Corian is very flexible and easy to repair on site if necessary. It's also offered in a good range of colour and we wanted something soft and subtle that would go well with the Bath stone finish of the walls."
The material can withstand high temperatures and is highly resistant to damage and stains. It is non-porous and separate lengths can be joined to create a seamless surface.
Case Study: Olympic
A refurbishment programme at Stadium House, Cardiff, BT's regional headquarters in South Wales, includes a food-court style of operation installed by Olympic Catering Equipment. The unit is used by some 400 BT staff each day.
The total refurbishment has included a coffee shop, a full servery counter and three island/delicatessen salad bars, replacing an original 1970s facility.
Impressive views over the new Cardiff Arms Park rugby ground can be enjoyed from the windows of the third-floor restaurant and the new servery area has been designed to complement the view, with futuristic-looking stainless steel and wood veneer.
With much of the rest of the building undergoing refurbishment, one of the biggest problems for Olympic was installing the specially designed island counters. "The goods lifts were out of action during installation," says contracts manager Reg Dawson. "While we could bring the smaller items up in the passenger lifts, we had to manoeuvre the heavy units, such as the salad bars and serveries, upstairs by hand, a task that was tricky to say the least."
Best of the rest
Grundy Catering has undertaken an unusual challenge designing and installing new servery counters at Latimer House conference centre, a stately home. Grundy was asked to produce a design befitting the surroundings but modern in appearance. The result was four units (three hot and one refrigerated), made from mild steel frames with bright polished stainless steel legs and Velstone surfaces. The units were built in Grundy's own in-house workshops.
Sunderland Football Club's new ground, the Stadium of Light, is said to be the biggest purpose-built football stadium since World War II. The club, which aims to provide a high calibre of corporate entertainment, called in Viscount Catering to design, supply and install a state-of-the-art catering facility. Viscount worked on the project from the design stage through to installation and follow-up, with serveries and counters included as part of a much larger project overseeing all of the catering facilities.
Fast Food Systems has created a stainless steel Rear Service Counter System which it has installed at the London School of Economics to complement its fast food outlet.
Chairman Arthur Withers says: "Being a leading British franchise of Southern Fried Chicken, these counters tended in the past to be on one enormous stainless steel base. They were difficult to move and install and could not be altered easily. So we have designed individual models, either 600mm or 300mm wide and 550mm deep, available with drawers, doors, shelves, ice wells and condiments and wrapping holders. The modular counter is then topped on site with made-to-measure stainless steel work surfaces. Other modules can be added later if needed."
The Ovaline range from Welbilt UK's Guyon countering has been specified at Nutricia Wells, Somerset, part of the Cow & Gate Group. It has been installed in the 50-cover restaurant which operates 24 hours a day and comprises: two ambient units; a multi-deck; a ceramic hot top with a hot cupboard; and two angle units.
Macdonalds Catering Equipment has a comprehensive range of modular hot and cold servery counters which can be tailored to most types of operation. The company offers lease rental on three- and five-year options, with 100% of the costs tax refundable.
A number of styles of refrigerated salad bar are available from Caravell, all finished in highly polished Italian walnut and made from 304 stainless steel.
Open Range from HMI Group can be adapted to most configurations - straight or staggered lines, or island sites. Units are made from heavy-duty materials, and hygiene is a major design factor.
A comprehensive choice of cabinets for heated, ambient and chilled food service is offered in Williams Flexi Serve units. All feature 50mm wide foam-injected walls, which, says Williams, makes them very strong and more energy efficient.
Hygiene is said to be a major feature of the range of serveries available from Ambassade de Bourgogne. The CMA 1200P unit is a stainless steel serving/plating surface with a width of 1,200mm and 650mm in depth. It has three cupboard spaces and can be fitted with racks or doors and converted into warming ovens.
Earthcare Products is a young company which claims that all of its products major on being environmentally friendly. Its HCE Servery, says the company, offers up to 20% lower running costs, increased reliability through the use of natural refrigerants, and lower noise levels by using lower pressure.
Heated, ambient and refrigerated units are available in the Buttress range of Lai bars. Made from stainless steel and granite, they come in variety of colours and finishes.
Detailed information on the wide range of Seal Display Products food display systems is available in a new brochure. The company claims to have one of the largest ranges of counter-mounted food display cabinets in the industry. Seal is part of the Lincat Group, which has the Panther range of food service equipment, with 11 specification hot cupboards in different of sizes and capacities.
The Woodside Coolcart is a dessert trolley produced by TSE Brownson, designed to keep food fresh for up to three hours by using eutectic plates and without the need for an electrical power source. The three-shelf trolley is finished in walnut, fully enclosed in Perspex with sliding doors and hinged-lid showcase. n
