Today’s restaurant patrons are looking for more than a good meal; they want an entertaining dining experience. We’re not talking about dinner theater here. Today’s diners have higher expectations with regard to food quality and consistency, and what might have passed as a luxury in the past is now a requirement. They also want chefs to infuse more of the chef’s personality in their meals.

Increasing customer demands have encouraged all types of chefs to deliver more consistent and high-quality creations in order to differentiate themselves from the competition. As a result, chefs are relying more on foodservice equipment to deliver creative, quality and consistent fare to keep their customers coming back.

“Some individuals may overlook the role that foodservice equipment plays in delivering consistent and quality meals,” says Will Blunt, managing editor of the award-winning online culinary magazine StarChefs.com. “In fact, the right equipment can help chefs be more creative in a controlled environment.”

Blunt points to the combi oven as being a creativity catalyst.

“Combi ovens allow chefs to cook free-form and do things they normally couldn’t do with a conventional oven, such as control and maintain precise temperature and moisture levels,” he explains. “They can cook with high heat without excessively drying food out.”

Since combi ovens have three cooking modes, they are ideal for maximizing equipment efficiency and consistent results. In convection mode, chefs can produce pastries, breads and glazing. Steam mode steams fish, shellfish, rice, vegetables and meats. Chefs can control humidity in combination mode to maintain the best cooking environment for meats, rethermalizing meals and for general cooking results.

“Once a chef creates that perfect dish in a combi oven, they can program the settings for repeatable results,” continues Blunt.

Customers Are More Ingredient Focused
According to Blunt, today’s diners are much more ingredient focused than in the past. It doesn’t matter if the ingredients are local, organic, sustainable or exotic. Customers want quality.

Many chefs favor preparing their own ingredients from scratch instead of purchasing prepackaged ingredients. Aside from being more cost effective, preparing products from scratch provides a much better quality and greater consistency compared to precut produce.

Daily food preparation can entail slicing and dicing tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables, shredding cheeses or julienning carrots for salads. This is much more labor intensive than the prepackaged alternative, but preparation machines such as slicers, cutter mixers and food processors ensure a consistent and quality product each time.

Chilling Goes Beyond Food Safety
Traditionally, blast chillers have been praised for their food-safety benefits because they flash-freeze food, thus taking it safely through the “Danger Zone.” The Danger Zone is the temperature between 135 degrees Fahrenheit and 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Improper cooling of food has repeatedly been cited as one of the leading causes of bacteria growth, which can lead to food-borne illness.

Blunt explains that blast chillers offer much more than food-safety benefits.

“Blast chillers offer chefs a unique way to lock in flavor and freshness while delivering consistency. Chefs not only use blast chillers to freeze and store meals, but they are also used to preserve individual ingredients as well,” he says. “For example, chefs may blast chill strawberries to preserve flavor and freshness so the fruit can be used when it is not in season.”

Giving Customers More
As restaurants continue to fight for their share of stomach, chefs will have to infuse more of their own personality into their dishes to give customers something that they can’t find anywhere else.

“Chefs have to add real value, not just purchase food and put it on a plate. Diners can do that at home,” explains Blunt. “Chefs have to find the balance in terms of showcasing ingredients in their best form.”

One area they can do to stand out is with specialty items such as charcuterie sausage and artisan breads. These items are large draws for diners and allow restaurants to extend their checks. Blunt explains that artisan breads and charcuterie sausage are growing in popularity because they offer customers something they might not be able to find elsewhere.

“This is another area in which having the right slicer, stuffer, mixer or oven can make all the difference,” he says. “With the right equipment, consistent and quality menu options are endless.”

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