Winterhalter helps inspire Muse to maintain the heights of fine dining.

Muse is a fine dining restaurant based in London’s Belgravia, owned by Michelin starred chef Tom Aikens. With 23 covers, it delivers an intimate dining experience with a menu designed to reflect Tom’s life experience and career which has seen him work at some of the world’s greatest restaurants.  Using ingredients sourced from British suppliers, diners are only given poetic hints as to what each dish is from the menu. “They’re given a little clue as to what they’re getting,” says Tom. “We try to create a sense of nostalgia for our guests, giving them a memorable journey.”

When you’re aiming to meet the standards expected of a Michelin starred restaurant, choosing the best possible equipment is a vital piece of the puzzle. Ensuring your tableware, glasses and cutlery are in peak condition is a vital part of any restaurant aiming to be the best, which is why, when Tom was looking for a dishwasher, he chose a PT passthrough dishwasher from Winterhalter. “We needed something that was 120% reliable,” he says. “In terms of our equipment, the dishwasher is probably the most important thing here, as we totally rely on it.

“We have a lot of plates and crockery, a lot of china, and some pieces are very fragile,” he explains. “We needed something that was easy to manage and use, that could handle anything from kitchen equipment to our most delicate pieces of tableware. The PT-M is a great machine.”

The PT-M features Winterhalter’s highly optimised washing and quadruple water filtration systems.  Innovative technology reduces energy and water consumption while enhancing reliability and usability. This ensures cookware and plates can be cleaned to the highest standards, time after time.

“We needed something that was quick and easy to manage and run, and was able to cope with different things,” says Tom. “We use it throughout the day, so in the morning it’s being used for cookware, pots and pans to help us keep up with preparing for service. Then later, it moves over to tableware. It’s so vital to have those levels of washing ability available to us.”

This is made possible by Winterhalter’s VarioPower variable water pressure regulation technology. This adjusts the wash pressure precisely to the type of wash items and how dirty they are – more power for utensils, less for delicate dishes. The innovative S-shaped wash arms reduce water consumption by up to 25%, while ensuring first class results.

Tom’s staff are also happy with their new Winterhalter. “We were without a dishwasher for about two and a half months, so our amazing KPs were having to wash everything by hand – all the plates, all the pots, the pans, the cutlery. As you can imagine, when the new machine arrived they were incredibly grateful!”

The efficiency of Winterhalter equipment was another big reason why Tom chose the PT-M. Features such as the EnergyLight heat recovery system uses energy recovered from the wastewater to heat up incoming water, which helps to reduce energy consumption by up to 10%.

“Sustainability is very important to us,” says Tom. “With washing that’s a huge consideration, as restaurants use a crazy amount of water, so we wanted to make sure that our dishwasher was efficient as possible.”

As with many restaurants, space at Muse is at a premium. “We’re based in a very small townhouse, we have limited space,” says Tom. “Winterhalter’s team had to get the dishwasher up the staircase, with less than half a centimetre on either side, but they managed it with ease.”

This experience and level of service was another big reason for choosing Winterhalter. “With our previous dishwasher, if it needed repairs or servicing, it often took days, sometimes even weeks to get done,” says Tom. “Winterhalter’s service team are very pro-active, they always keep a stock of all spare parts and are able to get here very quickly, and while we haven’t needed to call them out yet it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about.”

“Winterhalter is recognised within the industry as being one of the top brands and one of the best products you can have in your kitchen. Everyone in hospitality is facing challenges such as increasing costs, and knowing that our Winterhalter is helping to save water and generally running as efficiently as possible is very important to us.

“We’re all trying to make things work as smoothly as we can, and the PT-M is a big part of that – it helps to make sure our staff are able to work at the level they want to, which makes them happier. And at the end of the day having happy staff makes the restaurant work as efficiently as possible.”