For operations like Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London, a five-star hotel with a choice of superb restaurants and bars, refrigeration requirements are vast and the range of necessary equipment, formidable. From multiple coldrooms, refrigeration drawers, blast chillers, a dry meat ager, freezers, counters and cabinets, a trusted brand with a proven track-record was needed for the hotel’s ambitious kitchen project, which started pre-pandemic and was completed in spring 2024. That brand was Williams Refrigeration.
Mandarin Oriental Mayfair offer up to 800 covers, from breakfast to dinner. The entire operation is kitted out with Williams refrigeration.
Jihun Maxime Kim is executive head chef of the main restaurant and the open theatre-style kitchen and is in overall charge of the culinary operations at Mandarin Oriental Mayfair.
When it comes to refrigeration for running a successful catering operation, for Jihun, it starts with reliability. “I want to sleep at night and come back to work without any surprises!” he says. “Refrigeration in a commercial kitchen is the most important factor in running a safe and successful restaurant operation. As well as being reliable, refrigeration has to be easy to clean, to make sure food safety is controlled. Also, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group globally is very focused on sustainability, so energy efficiency is important.”
There are several coldrooms installed in the hotel, allowing for the safe storage of food and beverages, as well as separation of different types of foods. The coldrooms are water cooled, rather than using the more conventional air cooled systems, with pipes running between floors of the building and connecting to the hotel’s plant room. “The coldrooms are very important to receive goods and maintain freshness and quality. Having a viewing panel is useful to see what’s inside so we can minimise the frequency of opening doors.”
Williams offers multiple options with its coldrooms, such as bumper rails, internal release and foot operated doors, to help streamline a kitchen’s operations. The hotel coldrooms have ramps to make it easy to move trolleys around. There’s also a separate coldroom to house refuse bins. “I think it’s important to have a coldroom for refuse if you have multiple venues. It protects from biological hazard and contains smells.”
The main kitchen features a variety of Williams Jade counters and cabinets, including glass door and drawer models. These options were chosen to enhance productivity and make the chefs’ lives easier. There is also a Williams WBCF50, the company’s largest reach-in blast chiller freezer, which chills or freezes food quickly and efficiently, reducing energy consumption while preserving food quality. The blast chiller freezer is a major benefit for Jihun. “We cook big volumes of food here and anything cooked in advance, such as eggplant, requires a reliable blast chiller to cool it down safely.”
The open Sushi kitchen is in full view of diners allowing the restaurant to showcase its exciting menu and the chefs’ preparation skills. “Having a separate kitchen clearly gives us complete control and ensures there’s no crossover between the Akira Back kitchen and the Sushi kitchen, where the products are raw.” As well as keeping the food safe, the Sushi kitchen’s refrigeration creates a striking experience for diners – it features Chef’s Drawers, custom designed in stylish black thanks to Williams’ bespoke Chameleon vinyl wrapping service. “I think Williams’ Chameleon wrap gives great artistic points, it looks neat and professional, and fits with the interior design,” says Jihun. The use of Williams Chef’s Drawers means ingredients can be kept separate and temperature is strictly maintained, since very little cold is lost when the drawers are opened. These space saving, individually refrigerated drawers are ideal for the small footprint of the Sushi kitchen.
The drawers are stackable and have variable temperature controls, delivering a hugely flexible storage solution, while their front-venting refrigeration system means they can fit into the tightest of spaces. The hotel also uses another Williams space-saving design: biscuit-top Jade counters. These are manufactured to fit snugly under a pre-fabricated worktop. Mandarin Oriental Mayfair chose models with drawers in lieu of doors. Dosa’s open kitchen also features black chameleon wrapped refrigeration. Its Meat Ageing Refrigerator (MAR) is used to age several different products. “We hang and dry the ducks for 21 days, it gives you really crispy skin when you cook it, and the meat is very tender. We also have beautiful Welsh whole saddle of lamb, also aged for 21 days. The flavour works really well with Korean ssamjang sauce.” The MAR operates at the ideal temperature range of +1 to +6°C and provides humidity between 60-90%, ensuring that meat ages perfectly. The inclusion of Himalayan salt blocks assists with moisture management and improves the flavour of the meat.
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