Great irish hotel finds Romatik answer to perfect glass washing

Winterhalter’s reverse osmosis system helps give a great Irish hotel great sparkling glasses

The Mount Juliet Conrad Hotel, near Kilkenny, is more than a great Irish Hotel, more than a successful conference and banqueting venue, more than one of Ireland’s most popular destinations for wedding receptions and honeymoons.  It’s a full estate, with a world-class golf course that hosts regular PGA tournaments to the world’s greatest golfers, and offers many other relaxations such as an equestrian centre and fly fishing.

But for all its reputation, Mount Juliet must still overcome the problems of all caterers, not least a local water supply heavy with lime, which presents a problem for glass washing.  Detergents will clean the glassware, but any dissolved salts dry on the glasses, leaving smears and streaks which either need tedious hand polishing or time-consuming rewashing.

And for Mount Juliet, perfectly presented glassware is a crucial part of its reputation, says Xavier Perche the manager of the hotel’s Kendals restaurant.
“In our table and drinks presentation we really focus on good-looking glassware,” he says.  “High quality glasses stand out on the table, they really sparkle, but they have to look perfectly polished.”

Last year Xavier Perche overhauled the hotel’s glasswashing operation, with new Winterhalter GS 215 glass washers in the 140-cover banqueting, conference and reception suites, the 130-cover Kendals restaurant and the more exclusive 50-cover Lady Helen Room .

While the GS 215 glass washers have an unrivalled reputation for wash quality, energy and water consumption, the end results can only be as good as the final rinse.  Which is why Winterhalter installed the RoMatik reverse osmosis water purification system.

Mount Juliet uses high quality crystal glassware.  It looks fantastic on the table, but it’s delicate and needs careful polishing to look its best.  So Xavier was delighted to find that not only did the GS 215 deliver a perfect wash, but also, coupled with the RoMatik, it delivered glasses that came out perfectly clean, drying naturally without needing polishing.

“There’s nothing more to do with our glasses after we take them out of the washing basket”, he says. “They come out completely shiny and dry naturally”.

This has several major effects.  “Firstly, we save on time and labour.  Staff can work on other things because they don’t have to stand there polishing glasses.   We have fewer breakages too – and we save on linen costs.  And when it comes to laying tables, we can be sure the glasses are ready to put out, straight from the rack.”

Xavier says the RoMatik is trouble-free and easy to maintain.  “It only takes three to four minutes a day to look after.  But it saves us so much time and has so many other benefits.  And it costs very little to run.”

While more traditional water treatment systems can remove some calcium carbonate from the water, they still leave a substantial proportion of the very high mineral content of Kilkenny water.  But Winterhalter’s RoMatik system can remove up to 96% of the dissolved minerals, while also being far more compact than traditional reverse osmosis systems – it handily fits under a bar sink or counter.

The principle of reverse osmosis is quite simple. The water is drawn under pressure through a thin membrane, which removes not just the dissolved salts but many trace elements and compounds.  This gives very pure water for the final rinse, and ensures no streaks are left on the glass that could taint fine wines or cocktails.

Winterhalter provides a total solution for warewashing, from pre-sales advice to after-sales service, training and maintenance.  Alongside its market-leading dish and glasswashers, the company’s range includes utensil washers, advanced water treatment machines, cleaning chemicals and detergents.  For further details, call Winterhalter on 01908 359000, see www.winterhalter.com/uk-en/ , or email info@winterhalter.co.uk.