Rice relations

Computerised rice weigher-washers, induction rice cookers, automatic rice seasoning machines and mixers for shaping rice are items of equipment that exist only in the realms of fantasy for most chefs, even Japanese ones. But these appliances are fundamental to the kitchens at T'su, the modern Japanese restaurant that opened in Chelsea in August.

Consumption of rice runs at around 300kg per week, so one room of the kitchen is dedicated to its preparation and filled with £50,000 worth of the latest, most sophisticated rice-related gadgetry. "The alternative would have been to hire six or seven sushi chefs at £35,000 a year, which would have blown our wage budget," says head chef Mark Gregory.

T'su is owned by Julian Metcalfe of Pràt à Manger, film producer Eric Felner (of Mr Bean and Four Weddings and a Funeral fame) and Japanese food specialist Miyuki Hazzard. Gregory joined the enterprise having spent five years at Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire, and most of his career in five-star hotels. However, he acquired a passion for Oriental food from his Chinese former mother-in-law and from working for a year at the Japanese embassy in New Zealand.

With this background, how did he know what to buy for the new kitchen at T'su? "I didn't," he confesses, with a grin. Hazzard's experience was put to the fullest use, and she took photographs of numerous kitchens in Japan, which Gregory examined carefully. In designing the kitchen, he worked closely with Lockhart's and says the company was "invaluable".

Light equipment came from Japanese distributor Fujimak, while heavier items, including all the rice machinery and a noodle cooker, were supplied by Noto.

Front of house, there are two show kitchens which feed the three conveyor belts that transport little plates of food in front of diners. The conveyors were made to a Japanese design by On-Line Conveyors. Customers help themselves to the dishes they like the look of, then pay according to the number of empty plates.

Behind the scenes, the main kitchen is on the ground floor and incorporates a dedicated fish kitchen. Downstairs is the dry store and the rice kitchen.

Rice is measured in the traditional Japanese rice unit, sho. One sho is equivalent to 1.8kg and at T'su they cook three shos at a time (5.4kg). Work-flow in the 12ft x 12ft rice kitchen starts with a Sunmatic Ricemini machine which automatically weighs the rice, washes it and adds the programmed quantity of water. It stores around 50kg of rice in the base of the unit and deposits the prepared rice into Teflon cooking containers. These slot into the curved cavities of the induction rice cookers, two of which are mounted on a two-tier stand.

Next stop for the rice is an automatic seasoning machine. "A lot of chefs in Japan don't have these," says Gregory proudly. Its aim is to distribute seasonings and to cool the rice so that it does not cook the raw fish used in some dishes. The process also gives an attractive gloss to the rice. "Without it, you would fan the rice with a wooden spoon and it would take half an hour," explains Gregory. "But the machine gets the rice ready to use in three minutes."

Maki dishes look rather like roulades, with cooked rice rolled around a filling, such as salmon and grilled eel. The resulting roll is then neatly sliced. Traditionally, the task would be done by hand by a highly skilled sushi chef, using a mat to form the roll. However, at T'su there is a Suzumo maki robot.

This machine holds the cooked rice in a hopper at the top, then deposits a rectangular layer of it on to a small conveyor. From here it is dropped on to a platform with four hinged sections. At this point, the chef puts the required filling along the length of the rice. At the push of a button, the hinged sections fold up and gently squeeze the contents, forming the rice and filling into a "square roll", which is then cut into slices on a cutting machine.

Another Suzumo robot is used to make nigiri - finger-shaped rolls of rice flavoured with sake, vinegar, kombu seaweed, sugar and salt. It has computerised controls which allow the size of the nigiri to be precisely set at 22g.

T'su has installed a special transformer and Japanese-style electrical circuit for the rice kitchen. Elsewhere in the kitchens, other smaller Japanese appliances have their own individual transformers.

Gregory says that if anything breaks down, he can be sure of getting an engineer to fix it the same day. However, parts may take two weeks to arrive. He adds: "It's not difficult to bring equipment in from Japan, but you should always allow two months' lead time."

Space is a major expense in this part of London, so the main kitchens on the ground floor are extremely compact.

All around the kitchen are rails on which hang plastic-coated wire cassettes, each holding 20 little ABS plastic plates. On average, customers take three or four plates for lunch and four to six for dinner. With the restaurant serving 350-550 covers a day, huge numbers of plates are needed.

Again to make maximum use of the space, there is also a lot of gastronorm-sized racking made by Comet.

In the first section of the kitchen, there is a Lec freezer for ice-cream, plus a range of prep machines, among them a Rotor liquidiser and a Robot Coupe R301 Ultra.

There is also a Japanese electric Happy Super Cutter, supplied by Fujimak, which produces fine, metre-long strands of vegetables such as daikon (a type of radish) and carrot. Gregory also has a hand-operated version bought from Continental Chef Supplies.

In the main cooking area, there is a noodle cooker bought through Noto. Heated by gas, it operates much like a pasta boiler, with a hot water bath and baskets for the noodles.

A counter-top Lincat twin-well fryer is used for vegetable crisps, such as taro (a root vegetable) and deep-fried ginger. Under the counter is a Foster refrigerator. There is also a Falcon gas range, used mainly for boiling tasks.

Opposite the cooking area is a Meiko pass-though dishwasher. This works well, says Gregory but, unlike china, ABS does not hold heat, so a higher wash temperature is needed. And to completely clean away the rice starch, a chlorinated chemical system has to be used.

A second room houses the fish kitchen. Central to this is a special fish prep sink made to a Japanese design by Comet. On its top is a plastic cutting board on legs, positioned so there is a gap between it and the taps, allowing debris to be easily washed away.

The main refrigeration is also in this room - a Foster fish fridge, a double-door fridge for fruit and vegetables, preparation and meat, plus an upright freezer. Refrigeration capacity is deliberately small because Gregory insists on daily food deliveries.

In the 71-seat restaurant, there are two show kitchens. One is in the front, servicing a plate conveyor belt, and is surrounded by a counter and chairs for diners. The second, used only at peak times, serves two more conveyor belts, used by diners sitting at counters and by customers using the six booth tables.

Although the show kitchens are small, they have been designed so that three chefs can work in them without tripping over one another. One side is for raw food and the other for cooked, to avoid any danger of cross-contamination.

On both sides are service fridges with glass doors, with prep boards in front. In the middle is racking with a solid top to give extra work space. In the front is a work counter with a fridge underneath, plus sinks and a rubbish container.

A total of 22 people work in the kitchen, including part-timers. All wear Le Chef outfits, designed and made by Gregory's own company and distributed by Denny's, in which Gregory is a shareholder.

Installing a Japanese kitchen was a new experience for Gregory, so would he now do anything differently? He says not, except for some small elements - for example, he would put refrigerated wells in the show kitchens, rather than the service fridges with glass doors.

And he is full of praise for Japanese equipment: "It's designed to be easy to clean and made with tremendous attention to detail."