15 January 2025
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Williams Refrigeration has supplied a full range of equipment for a major kitchen project at London's 5-star Mandarin Oriental Mayfair hotel.
The work involved installation of multiple coldrooms, refrigeration drawers, blast chillers, a dry meat ager, freezers, counters and cabinets.
The hotel's dining options include its main restaurant, Akira Back, which blends Japanese and Korean cuisine. It’s the first UK venture of internationally acclaimed chef Akira Back, and has a separate sushi kitchen on full display to diners.
Meanwhile Dosa is the hotel’s new flagship fine dining experience: a Korean restaurant limited to 14 seats in an open kitchen. There is also a lounge bar, rooftop bar, and in-room dining available to guests. It all adds up to about 800 covers, from breakfast to dinner. The entire operation is kitted out with Williams refrigeration equipment.
Jihun Maxime Kim is executive head chef of Dosa and Akira Back and is in overall charge of the culinary operations at the hotel. He said: “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 open Sushi kitchen is in full view of diners, allowing the restaurant to showcase its menu and the chefs’ preparation skills. 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 black thanks to Williams’ bespoke Chameleon vinyl wrapping service.
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 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.
Jihun Maxime Kim is Executive Head Chef of Dosa and Akira Back
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 work was carried out by the Galgorm Group and the consultant on the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair projects was Humble Arnold Design.
“Everyone involved can be very proud of the project,” said Gary McMullan, Contract Manager at Galgorm Group. “It’s a brilliant end product with a vast range of equipment from Williams across many levels, which Galgorm Group and Mandarin Oriental Mayfair’s team at the hotel are very happy with. Covid restrictions caused delays on the project, but Williams and other suppliers stuck with us all the way, working through all the different stages. We have a great relationship with the team at Williams, they are very professional and we trust them absolutely.”
Andrew Charles, Project Consultant for Humble Arnold Associates, said: "Williams Refrigeration was a great fit for the project, from a design and operational perspective, providing confidence that the equipment is there to meet the requirements to help the luxury hotel and restaurant venues succeed for years to come.”