Palombo‘s is a bustling Fish and Chip Shop in Balloch, Loch Lomond, a picturesque tourist destination just twenty five minutes from Glasgow. The business is especially busy in the main tourist period from May to September when the chip shop, restaurant and attached bed and breakfast accommodation are packed with summer visitors.
Two years ago Franco Palombo invested in his first Rational SelfCooking Center to help him through this busy time. It’s unusual for chip shops to invest in combi ovens – they usually rely on their frying ranges and microwaves – but Franco wanted to speed up his operation, improve the quality of the food and expand the menu.
Because the food service operation at Palombo’s combines the take-away chip shop, the restaurant and breakfasts in the B & B side the Rational SelfCooking Center offered several advantages. It cooks quickly and simply, the results are guaranteed and it doesn’t take up much room.
In the chip shop at Palombo’s the SelfCooking Center has quickly become a kitchen essential. The staff love it as it is so simple and reliable to operate and the customers love the improved food quality.
"We use it for just about everything," says Franco. "It’s especially good at cooking pies such as steak pie and Scotch pie. We find the pies cooked with the SelfCooking Center are much less greasy and have a much longer shelf life than before. Although our turnover is such that they are probably only on display for about 20 minutes at the most, they could stay there three or four hours without deterioration if necessary."
Cleaning cooking equipment is notoriously difficult and arduous in chip shops. At Palombo’s the main frying range is about 20 feet long and after each shift it takes about an hour and a half to get it all clean. However the SelfCooking Center has added an element of ease to the cleaning regime and cut down the chores. Franco has found that the more they use the SelfCooking Center the less they have to clean the other equipment.
"The SelfCooking Center is a dream to clean," says Franco. "You just have to wipe down the outside, and set it to self-clean and it does the rest. You just can’t beat it."
The SelfCooking Center is in operation all day. Long before the chip shop opens it’s in use cooking an early breakfast for the bed and breakfasters.
"We make a traditional Scottish breakfast," says Franco. "We used to do an enormous amount of frying, frequently we had three pans or more on the go, but since we’ve had the SelfCooking Center the whole operation has been greatly simplified. We can do everything in it – haggis, tomato, eggs – all at the same time. We just load the food onto trays, pop it in, tap in the settings and it’s all cooked perfectly. The guests like it too because they can have a traditional breakfast but in a more healthy way as we aren’t frying everything."
Since Palombo’s has had the SelfCooking Center it’s started offering an all day breakfast in the restaurant.
"We can load in trays of fish coated with herbs for main menu and trays of eggs for the breakfast to cook at the same time and with no cross contamination. This means we have upped our turnover and profits accordingly. The SelfCooking Center is great," Franco says. "It’s absolutely unique!"
Palombo’s is constantly looking for innovative menu options and is buying a second SelfCooking Center to cope with the ever increasing demand from visitors and locals.
For more information freephone 0800 389 2944 or see www.rational-UK.com