Behind the scenes of London’s Café Royal

Top kitchen consultants select Ambach for yet another iconic location

Originally opened in the heart of London’s Regent Street in 1865, Café Royal Hotel has always been known for its opulence and style.
Famed as much for its celebrity visitors as the location itself, Café Royal’s famous patrons include two kings of England, Edward VIII and George VI; music legends David Bowie, Mick Jagger and the Beatles; and silver screen legend Elizabeth Taylor.

Following a recent multi-million pound redevelopment carried out by designer Sir David Chipperfield together with historic restoration specialists Donald Insall Associates, Café Royal is looking better than ever.
The hotel’s bars and restaurants, like the legendary Grill Room and Ten Room, are at the heart of the visitor experience thanks to a major behind-the-scenes renovation of the kitchens and installation of Ambach cooking ranges.
Ken Winch, FCSI consultant and director of Sefton Horn Winch, was hired to design the hotel kitchens, a four-year-long project that that truly tested his considerable design expertise, knowledge of the world’s equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and experience of providing solutions to complex foodservice projects.

ALI GROUP MET UP WITH WINCH TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCE

What were you aiming to achieve with this renovation? 

The project involved the design and specification of several kitchens that enabled Café Royal to be self sufficient in many ways. Through the use of the very latest equipment and innovative products we have managed to create facilities with world-class energy consumption levels. By working closely with our supply partners, including Ambach and equipment specialists C&C Catering Equipment, we did everything possible to ensure that we created the best possible facilities.

Why did you choose the Ambach Chef850 range?

We know the Ambach brand well, having already used their equipment on numerous projects both here in the UK, Europe and around the world. The brand is renowned for producing quality heavy-duty equipment and in the new Chef850 range we saw the product values and build qualities required by the facilities at Café Royal. 

What do you consider the most advantageous characteristic of the range?

There were several interconnected reasons for selecting a modular range suite, the first being flexibility. As the Café Royal had yet to appoint an Executive Chef at the time we started the project, we needed a product that was flexible, in terms of its ability to accommodate change relatively easily. There was a very real possibility that the various cooking suites would need to be revised, in order to meet the requirements of the in-coming chef. This did eventually come together to meet the needs of Executive Chef Andrew Turner, but we haven’t stopped there, the equipment has also been designed in such a way as to offer the flexibility to handle menu changes, if and when required.
The modularity of the Chef850 made this range the ideal choice.

What else interested you about the product? 

I was looking for units that were well built, energy efficient and that incorporated all of the cooking elements needed, or that could be adapted to include the items of equipment that could enhance the overall cooking suites. Finally the assemblies needed to be competitive in terms of the tendering exercise where alternative manufacturers were considered in order to achieve the clients standards and meet the budget.

www.hotelcaferoyal.com
www.ambach.com