JW Marriott. Santa Fe, Mexico City, Mexico.

"You have to try it to believe it. I've used every brand available, and if I'm prepared to invest in a RATIONAL oven, it's because I'm certain of the many benefits it offers." - Santiago Pelaez, Corporate Food Director Grupo Diestra

We use RATIONAL equipment for 90% of our menu.

Grupo Diestra is 65 years old and the number 1 Marriott franchisee in Mexico. When we saw what RATIONAL achieves in terms of improving quality and service, using resources efficiently, occupying a minimal amount of space, saving wastage, losses and labour, we decided to standardise it throughout the 15 hotels run by Grupo Diestra (Emporio, Marriott and Samba). JW Marriott Santa Fe has been open for 2 years now. It has 223 rooms and 3 banquet halls with capacity for 680 people, and an average of 400 meals are served each day.

Three different types of cuisine are available: Mexican (Restaurante Cúa), international (Banquetes) and Italian (Restaurante Quattro). These days, we use RATIONAL equipment for 90% of the food we prepare: everything from broiled meat and grilled chicken to oven-baked fish, steamed vegetables and baked goods. And for buffets we use it 100% of the time. We use the new 5 Senses equipment to make all our bread, even for the dough fermentation phase.

"RATIONAL lets you rise to any challenge, so you can forget about any problems."

Santiago Pelaez, Corporate Food Director Grupo Diestra

The RATIONAL solution.

Using RATIONAL equipment has allowed us to do away with lots of griddles, grills and bakery ovens, and we've even managed to use 60% less kitchen staff for buffets.

And thanks to RATIONAL we've also been able to introduce meat into our buffets. It's much simpler. Clients are scared of serving fillet or rib eye steaks, not only because of how carefully you have to cook it to make sure it's just right, but also due to the cost. We've now also managed to introduce a more economical meat option: we let it roast overnight and it comes out of the oven really juicy and tender.

I remember one wedding where we'd planned for 400 guests but 480 turned up on the day. When I asked the chef "what are you going to do?", he just answered: "RATIONAL, of course!" In less than 18 minutes the chicken breasts were ready and had been plated up. "All the chicken breasts were juicy and cooked to perfection. This is something you can only manage to do if you have a RATIONAL.

Benefits:

the equipment is so easy to use, it can be operated by anyone in the kitchen. It is self-cleaning and it tells you the number of washing tablets it needs. It's incredible!

We get heaps of complements from customers, particularly at buffets and when people try our bread. RATIONAL has helped us provide prompt service and always ensure our quality is of the highest order. Also, RATIONAL is one of the very few companies to have given me a response to any query. I've never had any service issues. We're delighted with it.