world-class restaurants and bars, the refrigeration requirements are extensive, requiring a diverse range of high-performance equipment. Te hotel’s culinary offerings include its main
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restaurant, Akira Back, which blends Japanese and Korean cuisine into innovative, mouth-watering creative dishes, and the Michelin-starred Dosa, an intimate 14-seat fine-dining Korean restaurant with an open kitchen. Add to that a lounge bar, a rooftop bar, and in-room dining, and the total covers reach around 800 daily, spanning breakfast through dinner. Starting pre-pandemic and completed in
spring 2024, the hotel’s ambitious kitchen project required multiple coldrooms, refrigeration drawers, blast chillers, a dry meat ager, freezers, counters and cabinets. It needed a trusted brand with a proven track record. Tat brand was Williams Refrigeration. “Refrigeration in a commercial kitchen is the
most important factor in running a safe and successful restaurant operation,” says Jihun Maxime Kim, executive head chef of Dosa. “As well as being reliable, refrigeration has to be easy to clean, to make sure food safety is controlled. Also, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group globally is very focused on sustainability, so energy efficiency is important.” At Akira Back, the award-winning chef ’s
namesake restaurant, the sushi kitchen is on full display to diners. “Having a separate kitchen clearly gives us complete control and ensures there’s no crossover between the Akira Back kitchen and the Sushi kitchen, where the products are raw,” says Jihun. But beyond food safety, the sushi kitchen’s
refrigeration is part of the guest experience. Custom-designed Williams chef ’s drawers, finished in sleek black using the brand’s bespoke Chameleon vinyl wrapping service, ensure ingredients remain separate and precisely temperature-controlled, since very little cold is lost when the drawers are opened. Te individually refrigerated, stackable drawers, are front-vented, making them ideal for the sushi kitchen’s tight footprint.
Left: at Dosa, refrigeration is the most important factor in running a safe and successful restaurant operation
ithout reliable refrigeration, foodservice operations simply can't function. At the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, London, a five- star hotel with multiple
Improving the flavor Dosa’s open kitchen also features bespoke black Chameleon-wrapped refrigeration and a meat- ageing refrigerator (MAR). “We hang and dry the ducks for 21 days. It gives you really crispy skin when you cook it, and the meat is very tender.” Te MAR operates at the ideal temperature range of +1 to +6°C and provides humidity between 60-90%, ensuring that meat ages perfectly. Himalayan salt blocks assist with moisture management and improve the flavor of the meat. Te main kitchen features a variety of Williams
Jade counters and cabinets, including glass door and drawer models. Tese options were chosen to enhance productivity and make the chefs’ lives easier. Jihun is particularly pleased with the Williams
WBCF50, the company’s largest reach-in blast chiller freezer: “We cook big volumes of food here and anything cooked in advance, such as eggplant, requires a reliable blast chiller to cool it down safely.” Troughout the hotel, water-cooled coldrooms
enable safe food and beverage storage and separation. Williams coldrooms have multiple options, including bumper rails, internal release and foot-operated doors, and ramps, to help streamline a kitchen’s operations. A separate coldroom for refuse bins “protects
from biological hazard and contains smells,” says Jihun. Te project was executed by the Galgorm
Group, with Humble Arnold Design serving as consultant. “Covid restrictions caused delays on the project, but Williams and other suppliers stuck with us all the way, working through all the different stages,” says Gary McMullan, contract manager at Galgorm Group. “We have a great relationship with the team at
Williams. Tey are very professional, and we trust them absolutely,” he adds. Andrew Charles (above, right), project
consultant for Humble Arnold Associates, says, “Williams Refrigeration was a great fit for the project, from a design and operational perspective.” “I’ve worked in many places around the world,
and I’ve never had any issues with Williams,” says Jihun. For him, refrigeration is about reliability: “I want to sleep at night and come back to work without any surprises.” ■
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For 45 years, Williams has been renowned for quality, performance, innovation and reliability
1980 5
Since 1980 Williams has built a global reputation for excellence
Williams is part of the AFE Group, a portfolio of five companies owned by Ali Group
williams-
refrigeration.co.uk Aliworld 25
Refrigeration was a great fit for the project, from a design and operational perspective
Andrew Charles, Humble Arnold Associates
Williams
BRAND WATCH
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