Hard Rock Cafe Hamburg. Hamburg, Germany.
“People like coming to the Hard Rock Cafe because they can count on its consistent standards all over the world.” - Lena Lütke Deckenbrock, Sales & Marketing Manager
The burgers and ribs here literally rock.
“Welcome to the Hard Rock Cafe, thank you for waiting and have a nice stay,” customers are told as they wait for a table. It’s only ten in the morning, but there’s already a line outside the Hard Rock Cafe at the St. Pauli Landing Bridges in Hamburg. Why? Because now, between a bass once played by Duran Duran’s John Taylor and a leather jacket belonging to Scorpions guitarist Rudolf Schenker, they’re serving granola with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt, scrambled eggs, chicken schnitzel sandwiches, and full English breakfasts. The Chemical Brothers provide fitting musical accompaniment. It’s a well-rounded concept, and it’s been rolled out worldwide. Sous chef Hannes Kasbohm and his 20-ish person team will be preparing another 500 to 800 meals today. Mainly burgers, of course, but also spare ribs, spring rolls, and Caesar salad. And you might not expect this from a chain restaurant like the Hard Rock Cafe, but all of it’s homemade - from the barbecue to the salad dressing to the seasoning mixtures for the meat. Even the spring rolls are hand-rolled.
People who come to the Hard Rock Cafe have certain expectations when it comes to food selection and quality. To meet those expectations, Kasbohm gets his recipes from headquarters. There are precise specifications for everything - ingredients, cooking processes, even plating techniques. He, in turn, depends on suppliers to provide consistently high quality meat and produce at all times. His kitchen equipment has to be extremely reliable as well. Which is why he counts on the two SelfCookingCenter® units that have been in the Landing Bridges kitchen since January of 2019. Together with RATIONAL’s regional head of sales, he tested, optimized, and finally approved processes for each dish. Now those processes are stored to the units, ready for anyone on the team to access.
“I first discovered RATIONAL through my previous employer. Now I can’t imagine being without them.”
Hannes Kasbohm, Sous chef
Dining with a view of the Elbe.
He even leaves the smoking to the VarioSmoker on his combi-steamer, packing marinated ribs tightly into the Spare Rib Grid before fitting them into the SelfCookingCenter®. The kitchen used to have a separate smoker, “but we wanted to replace it with a multifunctional unit,” the sous chef explains. Besides smoking, they use the SelfCookingCenter® to bake cheesecake, fry eggs in the Multibaker, prepare the mise en place with pulled pork and chicken, and make bacon for breakfast and burgers, among other things. “In half the time,” Kasbohm assures us. “It makes a real difference in terms of work hours and energy consumption.” His kitchen also makes regular use of the “Breakfast” preset, which includes cooking processes for grilled tomatoes, fried eggs, toast, and mushrooms. Kasbohm and his team just have to assign the ticket to the correct rack, and the SelfCookingCenter® guides them the rest of the way. Staff members learn how to use the combi-steamer in internal training sessions. They’ve felt the effects of qualified staff shortages here, too. Each team member has to spend two weeks at each station in the kitchen so that they’re prepared to cover any position. Customers can taste that the system works.
The chain offers regulars small presents - T-shirts, limited-edition pins - for their 50th, 75th, 100th, and 125th visits. Right now, they’re still waiting for someone to hit the top prize of 350 visits.
That might well happen in Hamburg - after all, the location was named “Top of the Rock,” the best franchise cafe, in 2014. The food and the service are crucial to that distinction, of course, but the ambiance doesn’t hurt, either. The center of the room is dominated by the elliptical bar; the tables scattered around it provide seating for up to 150 customers. During the summer, two terraces offer another 200 seats or so. Those terraces are where the real magic happens - they offer gorgeous views of the Elbe, the Blohm + Voss shipyard, and plenty of passing ships. An ideal backdrop for parties and live concerts. They spent a long time looking for a location like this one, and the extra work required to prepare the historically protected building was definitely worth it. Food, music, beach chairs overlooking the Elbe River - they’ve got it all now.
- The challenge:
Quick production, uniform quality - The solution:
2 × SelfCookingCenter® - Customer benefit:
Easy to use, so new staff members can operate them correctly from the beginning.
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