LaManna in Hanger 89, Essendon Fields, is Australia’s largest independent grocery store. The family-owned business has been operating out of the converted airport hangar since 2010.
Melbournians can start their shopping with a Green Breakfast Bowl at the Cafe Trattoria while stocking up on seasonal fresh produce, meat or seafood. Dinners also covered, with one of their 1500 takeaway meals prepared and packed daily in their satellite kitchen by the 80 staff members.
“You can come here, do your shopping, grab something to eat and enjoy being around that market vibe,” says chief of food and beverage, Jason Shiong.
The RATIONAL range of commercial appliances used by LaManna
La Manna produces 60 lines of ready-made meals and baked goods per day in their satellite kitchen. To produce this volume of meals consistently, they rely on four RATIONAL iCombi ovens and two iVario units.
“With the iVario units, we have the flexibility of braising overnight. It gives our sauce a better flavour,” says Jason.
Bolognese sauce is very popular at LaManna and is used in many different pasta dishes, such as lasagne. The iVario is perfect for cooking pasta sauces because it doesn’t need monitoring. The unit can be preprogrammed with the result they wish to achieve and won’t boil over or burn. Therefore, cleaning between meals is easy, especially with the ergonomic tilt mechanism.
The RATIONAL iCombi oven is another essential piece of equipment at LaManna.
Jason has been using RATIONAL iCombi ovens for the past 16 years and prefers RATIONAL over other combi ovens on the market.
“RATIONAL helps me in the kitchen through its flexibility. The quick turnaround from roast mode to steam mode. The ability to do something on the fly,” says Jason.
Humidity, air speed, temperature and steam injection are all intelligently controlled to give the perfect result. The cabinet will adjust the conditions accordingly if the door has been opened or the food is a little too frozen.
The person operating the unit simply needs to press a pre-set button. They don’t need to be a chef to get consistent, high-quality results.
“The RATIONAL iCombi helps us with consistency and versatility. Having pre-set modes allow us to keep consistent no matter who’s working that day,” he says.
Multiple products can be baked, steamed or poached in a single cooking cabinet. The iCombi monitors each tray precisely, so different products can be cooked at the same time, in rolling batches or one after the other. The oven monitors, measures load quantities and adjusts cooking times precisely.
“The RATIONALS enable us to base prep and then take the food to our cafe for our chefs there.”
Commercial appliances used in the LaManna cafe
The Cafe Trattoria kitchen has three RATIONAL iCombi ovens, two Frymaster fryers and a Garland grill.
The Frymaster deep fryers are used for cooking hash browns, crispy chips and chilli-fried halloumi. These oil-saving fryers use 40 per cent less oil to fill the vat than other conventional fryers. They’re also more efficient at filtering.
The self-filtering application takes out the guesswork. There is no risk of discarding good oil or cooking in dirty oil. The consistent temperature and preprogrammed settings deliver a consistent product.
“The Frymaster fryers hold their temperature very well.”
The Garland Grill is durable, easy to clean and powerful. The LaManna cafe uses the grill for breakfast and lunch service, cooking burgers, grilled salmon and bacon.
“The Garland grill works quite well because it’s balanced throughout the grill plate. So, no matter what the chefs are cooking, it always gets a consistent heat, ending up as a consistent product which is the most important thing.”
The latest commercial appliances can improve your consistency in the kitchen. To find out how our appliances can improve your kitchen results, call Comcater at 1300 309 262 or fill out our contact form.
