Case study

Fine dining and sustainability for the Rust en Vrede Restaurant

How exclusive cuisine, reduced food waste, and a detailed statement converge.
Chef Fabio Daniel sought to find the right equipment in his fine dining restaurant to prepare food that would deliver precise results, produce less waste, and make a detailed statement. Bizerba's solutions for food production were just what he was looking for.
  • Experience
R
ust en Vrede in Stellenbosch is one of the top fine dining restaurants in South Africa and has been chosen as one of the top 100 restaurants worldwide. The restaurant opened in 2007 and is part of the family-run vineyard of the same name, which boasts a history dating back 300 years, and is renowned for its exclusive, international award-winning red wine. Headed by Chef Fabio Daniel, the restaurant offers special culinary experience of upscale French cuisine mixed with Brazilian and Italian influences. Menus ranging from six to ten courses are prepared using fresh, seasonal ingredients, and the finest beef and game. The chef strives to produce exceptional food, while reducing food waste and also establishing allergen labeling in South Africa. To this end, Fabio Daniel sought to find high-quality equipment that consistently delivers this quality – and found it with Bizerba.
Company
Rust en Vrede Restaurant
The Rust en Vrede restaurant in Stellenbosch is part of the vineyard of the same name, and is famous for its exclusive, internationally award-winning wines. A renowned fine dining restaurant, it offers its guests exceptional gastronomic experiences of upscale French cuisine with Brazilian and Italian influences under the direction of Chef Fabio Daniel.
  • Opened in 2007
  • vineyard since 1694
  • WWF Conservation Champion
More information
As a fine dining restaurant, we strive to offer a truly world-class experience in every aspect and every time. We look for products that ensure the highest levels of quality and service, while providing the best possible results. Bizerba was able to satisfy all these requirements.
Fabio Daniel
Chef de cuisine, Rust en Vrede Restaurant
Challenge

Exceptional quality, less waste & a detailed statement

Fine dining thrives on special culinary experiences: exquisitely decorated dishes, delicately sliced ingredients, while focusing on regional produce, sustainability and seasonality, which is why the Rust en Vrede menu is limited. Surprising and unique creations frequently appear on the menu depending on the availability of the selected, high-quality ingredients. „When our guests come to visit us and the vineyard, they expect a world-class experience. Providing that is the aim of our company, whether it is in producing wine or the dishes in our restaurant“, says Fabio Daniel, chef de cuisine at Rust en Vrede. Fabio Daniel also applies the same standards to the equipment he uses in the kitchen. On average, around 7700 people visit the restaurant annually, and they expect us to offer a world-class experience and that everything works perfectly. 

Christian Schiess, Managing Director, Bizerba Southern Africa (Pty), remembers how Rust en Vrede was advised „The Rust en Vrede restaurant was looking to find premium kitchen equipment designed to handle the sophisticated demands of fine dining. As a fine dining restaurant, they must ensure consistently exceptional quality food and services to they do. In addition, the reduction in food waste was also a important criterion.” In contrast to preparation by hand, food is cut much more accurately with a professional machine. With around 500 dishes prepared every evening, the results are readily visible and can be measured.

The chef de cuisine was looking for quality equipment that is also sustainable: Their longevity and effectiveness in reducing the amount of food waste produced help Rust en Vrede in being sustainable, another claim they take seriously. Fabio Daniel states: „One of the toughest challenges nowadays is to reduce food waste and improve sustainability.“ As a WWF Conservation Champion, our vineyard puts nature preservation at the heart of everything they do. This also applies to gastronomy. In his efforts to achieve this aim, he obtained several quotations before he made the decision to go with Bizerba: „Bizerba manufactures some of the best-known and highest quality devices on the market. As a fine dining restaurant, we always strive to provide a truly world-class experience in every aspect. We look for products that ensure the highest levels of quality, service and the best results. Bizerba met the challenge in every respect.”

Solution

Professional solutions for accurate results and processes

Fabio Daniel chose several solutions from Bizerba:

  • 1 GSP H manual gravity slicer
  • 1 FK23 meat and bone saw
  • 1 XC II 800 Pro PC scale
  • 1 mincer

Bizerba's solutions can be found in several areas in the restaurant's kitchen and play a major role in food preparation. Rust en Vrede uses a compact Bizerba mincer for mincing raw, cooked, or smoked meat,. Food cut this way can be handled quickly and hygienically. The GSP H manual gravity slicer is suitable for meat, sausage, and produce, but also for bread, showing its versatility in the kitchen. With slicing settings from 0-3 mm it can even accurately process the finest slices. When thicker slices are needed, for an entrecôte, for example, Chef Daniel chooses the FK23 meat and bone saw as an ideal solution. It can even portion and cut frozen meat.

The XC II 800 Pro PC scale includes a label printer, and it is used to weigh and label ingredients that are pre-packed and stored. All major ingredients and specifications are tracked clearly, providing as much detail as possible on the label. The RetailPowerScale scales software was designed with a special GUI for Rust en Vrede. With it, the recipes to be prepared can be easily selected, along with the packaged ingredients. „We customized the software to ease integration into the existing software infrastructure. This makes it possible to access available recipes or to create new recipes from other devices such as PCs, smart phones or tablets, or via a web-based application,“ says Wendell Trican, Retail Solutions Expert at Bizerba. He set up and installed the devices on site. As plug-and-play devices, all four Bizerba solutions were immediately ready for use.

During a two-day training, Wendell Trican showed the Rust en Vrede team how to use the new Bizerba equipment and was available as a contact for any subsequent queries afterwards. „Bizerba offered training for each equipment item. The Bizerba team came to us for training, and they showed us how to operate the products in our kitchen“, Fabio Daniel explains.

Benefits

Exceptional quality, greater sustainability & detailed information

With four different solutions from Bizerba, not only does Fabio Daniel have the advantage of having a single contact if he has any questions. What's more, the solutions have a direct impact on the dishes and on the restaurant's sustainability. 

Accurate results & less waste

Fabio Daniel remembers how things were in the past: „Before we had these Bizerba solutions, more frequently than not, we just had to accept sacrifices in quality and service, and the outcome wasn't quite what we hoped for. Thanks to the precision now available to us, we are already producing far less waste.“ The GSP H is one example, which as an all-round slicer it is just as suitable for dishes like carpaccio as for the side salads: „Whether raw meat or even vegetables, we always have the same, perfectly sliced product. This is extremely important to us.“ Also, the FK23 meat and bone saw combines function and sustainability: „We can now cut each steak to the same thickness so we now produce as little waste as possible.“  

Detailed labels & Stating allergens

The PC scale and integrated label printer plays an important role in the kitchen and in food preparation. It weighs out the ingredients for each dish precisely, but can also do much more than that: Fabio Daniel aims to be a pioneer for labeling allergens in South Africa and therefore labels the products portioned in the kitchen in detail. Ingredients that could trigger allergies or an intolerance are noted to this effect on the label. „We do not simply use the XC-800 to weigh everything that we vacuum-pack. It also enables us to label every ingredient contained in the package – such as allergens. As you would expect, the date on the label is the most important information, ensuring that we do not handle any products that have expired.“ 

The Rust en Vrede team is very happy with the decision to use Bizerba products: „The collaboration with Bizerba has been exceptional up to now. We share the same corporate values. This is why we, as a company, hope to work with Bizerba for a long time to come.“ 

Let’s count

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Before we had solutions from Bizerba, we often just had to accept sacrifices in quality, service and the ultimate result. With the precision we are now able to achieve, we already produce far less waste.
Fabio Daniel
Chef de cuisine, Rust en Vrede Restaurant
The Rust en Vrede restaurant was looking to find premium kitchen equipment designed to handle the sophisticated demands of fine dining. As a fine dining restaurant, the equipment must ensure consistently exceptional quality food and service to match. In addition, reducing waste was also a major criterion.
Christian Schiess
Managing Director, Bizerba Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd
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