From ‘Forge’ to ‘Coach House’ at Middleton Lodge
Scomac Catering Equipment, specialist in the design and project management of commercial kitchens installations, has recently completed its second major project in the space of three years for the Middleton Lodge Estate.
The latest project, a refurbishment of the kitchen at ‘The Coach House’, follows the successful completion of a similar scheme at ‘The Forge’ in 2018. Once again, Scomac turned to Grande Cuisine for advice on the design of the kitchen’s centrepiece, a fully electric MARENO island cook suite.
‘The owners of the Estate are very conscious of the environment and, with the existing gas equipment rapidly approaching the end of its useable life, were keen to look at an alternative that would not only cost them less to run, but also be kinder to the environment,’ says Scomac’s John Carter. ‘The all-electric MARENO suite that Grande Cuisine designed meets all of these requirements, whilst simultaneously creating a more comfortable working environment for the brigade and a more ergonomic working space.’
The main elements of the cook suite itself are a two-zone induction cooker, two x four-zone MARENO plaque cook plates (designed for both pan and direct cooking), two x double electric fryers, a 100l electric boiling pan, a two-zone ceramic hob, a four-zone electric solid top with oven under, an electric grill, and a salamander. The suite also includes a bespoke end section for hot holding.
As well as improving workflow and communication between the chefs, the new suite makes cleaning and maintenance much easier as the one-piece top eliminates the dirt traps created when placing traditional standalone equipment side-by-side.
The Grade II listed building presented some challenges in terms of access, whilst installing drainage and services to an island suite in the most aesthetically pleasing way will always need careful coordination. But with Scomac providing accurate overlays to pinpoint critical drainage points, and Grande Cuisine supplying a detailed M&E drawing showing the specific connection points for services the installation, which took place during a brief post-Christmas lull in order to minimise the disturbance to guests, went very smoothly.
‘Ultimately we chose a MARENO suite because we knew it would offer optimal energy efficiency, build quality and reliability,’ says Carter. ‘We also knew that in Grande Cuisine we would be working with a company that has outstanding product knowledge, an excellent installation/service team, fast response times, local representation, and a real passion for everything that they do.’