Case Study – The Alchemist
Challenge: How does a modernistic restaurant, known for its theatrical presentation, utilise microwave ovens in its kitchens?
Seamus O’Donnell began his journey with The Alchemist Group over seven years ago as Operations Head Chef. Today, as Culinary Director, he describes his customer base as 18-35 year old early adopters that enjoy the Group’s offering of innovative, theatrical food and cocktails.
Now with twenty venues and growing, the brand is never short of foot traffic. To illustrate, The Alchemist at Spinningfields, Manchester, serves over 1,000 diners over a weekend and this audience has an appreciation of all things aesthetic: borne out by the 112k followers on Instagram.
Solution: Using Panasonic’s NE-1878 with full metal door, Seamus knows he can rely on its performance to aid speed of service.
Seamus explains; “Speed of food preparation is of the essence, but quality is always key. By ensuring our kitchens are set up as ergonomically as possible increases our productivity. As the estate grows and develops, the chances of human error increases, but by working with quality ingredients and using quality equipment gives our chefs the tools to do the job.
“We use the Panasonic NE-1878s for reheating, which reduces waste and maintains product quality as the Inverter technology heats evenly and extremely gently. When I was researching suitable ovens for our kitchens, I wanted reliability and performance and Panasonic hit all marks. That we can define pre-set buttons is a bonus and the LED interior light and low maintenance made them very attractive. The full metal door gives a more professional look and the chance to add the cavity liner is a must have item in any kitchen because of the ease and speed in cleaning up any accidental spillages.
“We’ve been using Panasonic ovens for over 10 years but this latest model, with its full metal door, gives us the flexibility to place the oven anywhere. It also saves on maintenance because there’s no film on the internal side of the door to peel away.
“At the end of the day, the NE-1878 has lived up to expectations of reliability, pleasing aesthetics and efficiency.”