FREEMASONS AT WISWELL GOES FOR WORLD CLASS STANDARD

Freemasons at Wiswell is regarded as one of the best pubs in the UK, and has been included in the 2019 Michelin guide. Their ambition is to be one of the best in the world, serving refined food created in a world class kitchen. Freemasons decided to update their current foodservice areas to help achieve their goals.

When it came to installing the new facilities, the team had to use the space available to its optimum. Freemasons chose to work with experienced kitchen equipment specialists, CHR, to manage the project. In turn, CHR chose Precision Refrigeration equipment to meet the needs of the client.

“Working with CHR and Precision, as a world class brand, helps us to continue to serve our loyal customers to the very high standards we have, and they appreciate the food and service we offer”, comments Steven Smith, Chef Owner at Freemasons.

“The most important thing with fridges is that they need to work correctly. There are a lot of refrigeration companies out there that don’t have products that perform when needed. They need to hold the temperature, they need to be easy to clean, and be energy efficient. Precision offers all of this, and that’s why we chose them.”

Smith is particularly proud of the new wall cabinets in his kitchen.  They feature glass doors, so both customers and staff can see the contents. One wall cabinet is a meat ager with Himalayan salt at the bottom of unit. It houses aged lamb and beef, the beef itself is aged 100 days to enhance the flavour. The wall cabinets look great, and they work well, keeping a steady temperature all the time, which is really important with meat ageing.

The other wall cabinet is a cheese fridge. Freemasons didn’t have a lot of space to keep cheese maturing, so using wall space gave the team the perfect solution to house 5 or 6 different cheeses, which then ripen in a controlled temperature environment.

“The wall cabinets are a great tool for the customer journey” comments Smith. “Customers ask us what those units are doing, and it’s a great talking point to engage further with them.”

Freemasons also chose the Precision blast chiller as part of their equipment selection, to keep products super chilled. “It’s a small unit that has gone into a tight space, but the capacity is great, and it has revolutionised the way we do things in the kitchen.

There are two parts of the kitchen, the preparation and the service areas. There are Precision drawer refrigeration units throughout, and chefs are constantly using the equipment to obtain ingredients for the dishes. The units hold the temperature in our busy kitchen environment.

We have also installed two Precision bottle coolers at the back of the kitchen next to the chef’s table for a drinks experience. This is also working really well for us, and it’s great that we could purchase both foodservice and beverage equipment from the same supplier.

The Precision fridges look superb. Aesthetically they look lovely, and they are also reliable for the kitchen. We recommend Precision equipment to others, and will be using their fridges for many many years to come.”