Fine dining and sustainability for the Rust en Vrede Restaurant

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.”

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.“