FOOD TO GO
Versatile
options
With many consumers having been out of the habit of buying their regular, to go snacks and food to go items in recent times, and now looking for something new and different when they do, many operators, especially cafés, have taken the opportunity to re-evaluate what they sell, as well as the way they prepare and serve them. MULTI-PURPOSE When it comes to serving up hot snacks and food to go items, a commercial microwave is utilised by many cafés and coffee shops to help expand and optimise their menu, as well as offer their customers a menu they might not otherwise be able to do. In the case of Panasonic’s NE-SCV2 speed convection oven, for instance, it can replace the need for several
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items of equipment as it will grill, toast, bake, re-heat, fry, poach, etc., and doesn’t need extraction, so can be located anywhere, even in the smallest of kitchens enabling the traditional café choices of warm pastries with a crisp finish (it’s stackable too). Julian Urrutia (main picture) is catering manager for Artizian, a boutique contract caterer. He and his team cater for the 800 personnel,
mainly 25-35 year olds, who occupy the building from the Skylobby Café, the only catering facility on site. They serve around 320 breakfasts and lunches every day; the majority during the morning. Julian Urrutia says his main objectives are to ensure a smooth service for customers, making sure the standard of food is always high, while being innovative and on-trend. “One of our biggest challenges is keeping customers on site so we need to stay up to date with the latest concepts on the high street and ensure our entire offer is competitive, from speed of service to style of food served,” he says. “This is not without its obstacles; we have limited space, we are in an open plan area with no extraction and queues can build quickly on busy days. Our most popular items are hot, freshly prepared grab and go items such as the ubiquitous Panini and toasties but our homemade chicken fajita and taco beef wraps, are among the top sellers.” Prior to using the Panasonic SCV2, the team had been coping with a panini contact grill which was not only slow, it created smoke and a lot of smells and the food was always presented squashed flat. However, the
