The Good Egg keeps cool in Soho
Popular London restaurant picks Precision for its second location.
From humble beginnings as a stall back in 2013, The Good Egg recently opened its second London restaurant, in Soho. With a menu that fuses Tel Aviv street food and Jewish deli food from around the world, it has built a reputation for bold flavours and imaginative takes on classic recipes. Its menu relies on the freshest ingredients, and to help achieve this they rely on equipment from Precision.
Owner and chef Joel Braham explains, “We take elements from all over the world, and give it our own twist. Nobody else has our combination of healthy Middle Eastern flavours and recipes developed in delis in New York, Montreal and London.”
The restaurant in Soho is in addition to the original location in Stoke Newington, and Joel is relishing the new challenge of operating in central London. “At Stokey our peak times are around brunch, but here we’re busy in the evenings too. We have a lot of passing trade from tourists, as well as the local workforce. It’s a real mix of people”
Designing the kitchen for the new location brought some of the toughest challenges. “This is our largest restaurant yet, and our largest kitchen,” says Joel. “But we always need more space! Making sure our chefs have access to ingredients, while keeping them in perfect condition until they’re needed, is vital to keep things running smoothly.”
Joel worked with Ray Costelloe from CCE, with the brief that the equipment needed to make the most of the available space while also looking good.
“The restaurants we’re inspired by all have open kitchens – the spectacle of seeing your meals being made has always been a key part of the Good Egg experience,” says Joel. “So making sure the kitchen looks great was a key thing for us.”
Ray suggested refrigeration from Precision. The kitchen at The Good Egg uses a variety of different Precision products for different purposes. “I was really impressed by how well-built their products are, and how versatile their range is,” says Joel.
“We have upright fridges and freezers for bulk storage, and then for daily use we have refrigerated storage close to the chef’s stations.” These under counter units can be fitted with doors or drawers depending on requirements. “We chose to have units with drawers to store fish and meat separately. Having everything you need close to hand saves a lot of time when it gets busy!”
There are customisation options for most of Precision’s range. For example, condensers can be placed on the top or bottom of fridges and freezers, granting huge flexibility in positioning.
“Being able to specify where the condensers were was also important. Not having to define the available space by the equipment allows us to set it up exactly as we want,” says Joel.
Precision’s equipment is designed to be easy to operate and maintain. Each unit has simple controls, with easy to read LCD screens that display operating status and alerts. The stainless steel construction is robust for life in the busiest kitchens, while making the units easy to clean. “We’re busy throughout the day, so it’s nice that we don’t have to spend extra time cleaning them at the end of the shift!” says Joel.
“The importance of refrigeration can get overlooked,” he adds. “But it’s the foundation of any successful catering operation – if you want your food to be the best, you need the best refrigeration. We’re really pleased with the food our Precision helps us to make!”
For more information on CCE visit contractcateringequipment.co.uk