Case study

Fine dining and sustainability for the Rust en Vrede Restaurant

How exclusive meals, less food waste and an in-depth declaration all come together
For preparation of dishes in his fine dining restaurant, chef de cuisine Fabio Daniel looks for devices that provide accurate results, produce less waste and also provide detailed statements. He was able to get all this with Bizerba's food production solutions.
  • 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. Opening in 2007, it is part of the family-run vineyard of the same name, home to a 300-year history and is famous for its exclusive, international award-winning red wine. Under the aegis of chef de cuisine Fabio Daniel, the restaurant provides special culinary experiences based on refined French cuisine whilst combining both Brazilian and Italian aspects. The six to ten-course menus are crafted from fresh, seasonal ingredients and premium quality beef and game. The chef's aim is to create remarkable dishes, reduce the level of food waste and also to establish the notion of denoting allergens in South Africa. For this reason, Fabio Daniel looks for quality equipment that can provide a consistently high level of quality, and found it with Bizerba.
Company
Rust en Vrede restaurant
The Rust en Vrede restaurant in Stellenbosch belongs to the vineyard of the same name, which 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, our aim is always to provide a truly world-class experience in every aspect. We look for products that ensure the highest levels of quality and service, whilst providing the best results. Bizerba was able to satisfy all these requirements.
Fabio Daniel
Chef de cuisine, Rust en Vrede restaurant
Challenge

Exceptional quality, less waste & detailed declaration

Fine dining thrives on special culinary experiences: exquisitely decorated dishes, delicately cut ingredients, as well as a focus on regional produce, sustainability and seasonality, which is why Rust en Vrede only keeps a limited menu. Depending on the availability of the selected, high-quality ingredients, unique creations and surprises may appear on the menu. „When guests come to us and the vineyard, they expect a world-class experience. That is always 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 has the same standards for the devices used in the kitchen. Around 7,700 people visit the restaurant every year expecting world-class results and that everything works perfectly. 

Christian Schiess, Managing Director, Bizerba Southern Africa (Pty), remembers advising Rust en Vrede „The Rust en Vrede restaurant was looking for premium kitchen equipment that was fit for handling the demands of fine dining. As a fine dining restaurant, they must provide consistently exceptional quality food and service to match. Furthermore, the reduction in food waste was also a major criterion.” In contrast to preparation by hand, food is cut much more accurately with a professional machine. With approximately 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 durability 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 covers gastronomy. In order to achieve this aim, he obtained several quotations before deciding on Bizerba: „Bizerba manufactures some of the best-known and highest quality devices on the market. As a fine dining restaurant, our aim is always 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 satisfied all these requirements.”

Solution

Professional solutions for accurate results and procedures

Fabio Daniel decided on 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 various parts of the restaurant's kitchen and play a major part in food preparation. For mincing raw, cooked or smoked meat, Rust en Vrede uses a compact Bizerba mincer to do the job. Food cut this way can be handled quickly and hygienically. The GSP H manual gravity slicer is suitable for meat, sausage, fruit, vegetables as well as bread, meaning it is versatile in the kitchen. With cutting settings from 0-3 mm it can even accurately cut the finest of slices. For thicker slices, as required by an entrecôte, Chef Daniel uses the FK23 meat and bone saw as an ideal solution. This can even portion and cut frozen meat.

The XC II 800 Pro PC scale has 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 as clearly and in as much detail as possible on the label. The RetailPowerScale scales software was equipped with a special GUI for Rust en Vrede. This makes it possible to easily select the recipes that should be prepared as well as the ingredients that are packed. „We have individually configured 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, smartphones 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. All four Bizerba solutions were instantly ready for use as plug-and-play devices.

Wendell Trican demonstrated how to use the new Bizerba equipment over two days of training with the Rust en Vrede team and was also available as a contact for any subsequent queries afterwards. „Bizerba offered training on each item of equipment. The Bizerba team came to us to do this and showed us how to operate the products in our kitchen“, reports Fabio Daniel.

Benefits

Exceptional quality, greater sustainability & detailed information

With four different solutions from Bizerba, Fabio Daniel doesn't just have the advantage that there is only one contact partner if he has any queries. The solutions have a direct impact on the dishes and indeed the sustainability of the restaurant. 

Precise results & less waste

Fabio Daniel casts an eye back to the past: „Before we had these solutions from Bizerba, we often had to accept that quality, service and the outcome wasn't quite what we hoped to achieve. Thanks to the precision we can now achieve, we already produce far less waste.“ An example of this is the GSP H, which as an all-round slicer it is just as suitable for dishes like carpaccio as for the side salads: „Whether it is raw meat or even vegetables, we always have the same, perfectly cut product. This is extremely important for 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 label printer plays an important role in the kitchen and in the preparation of dishes. It precisely weighs out the ingredients for the dish, but can also do much more than that: Fabio Daniel aims to be a pioneer for labelling allergens in South Africa and therefore labels the products portioned in the kitchen in detail. Ingredients that could trigger allergies or intolerances are noted to this effect on the label. „We do not just use the XC-800 to weigh everything that we vacuum-pack. It enables us to label every ingredient contained in the package – such as allergens. As you would expect, the date is the most important so 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: „Cooperation 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 had to accept slight falls in quality, service and the overall result. Due to the precision we can now achieve, we already produce far less waste.
Fabio Daniel
Chef de cuisine, Rust en Vrede restaurant
The Rust en Vrede restaurant was looking for premium kitchen equipment that was fit for handling the demands of fine dining. As a fine dining restaurant, they must provide 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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