Located in the heart of London’s West End, The Londoner is a major new development on the World renowned Leicester Square.  Maximising the value of the location whilst complying with strict planning laws required innovative design solutions and resulted in a spectacular development with the deepest habitable grade commercial grade basement in London.  Amongst the deepest in the world, there are 6 levels below ground totalling some 30 meters in depth and with 9 levels above, housing 350 rooms, 35 suites, an underground pool & spa, cinema and a ballroom capable of seating 850 guests.  As you would expect there is also a variety of restaurant and bar options to choose from in this luxurious “super-boutique” 5 star hotel.
Inaugurated in September 2021, The Londoner has attracted great interest from the outset, hosting many well-known events, including London Fashion Week.

The requirement

• It was necessary to make the best use of available space and maximize production through high-performance and flexible solutions with both gas and electric equipment.
• The design needed to incorporate one-piece top suites, modular back to back islands and also included counter-top appliances for the finishing kitchens.

The solution

• Thanks to the great flexibility of across the Ambach range, design consultant Humble Arnold Associates developed a solution that ensured compliance with the highest hygiene standards and that harmoniously incorporates the structural columns within the cooking areas of the building.
• The selected equipment from the Ambach System 700, 850 and 900 lines supplied by the kitchen contractor Berkeley Projects is installed over 5 floors and includes the banqueting and staff kitchen, fine dining front of house as well as satellite kitchens, each with their own unique requirements for bulk cooking, a la carte and finishing.
• ” Ambach have been nothing but consistent, from design intent, through to design development & delivery. A robust, honest, transparent approach from concept through to completion, inclusive of client handover. An absolute joy & credit to the Berkeley team” – Phil Denne, Managing Director – Berkeley Projects.
• “Ambach were a pleasure to work with, the attention to detail and approach to coordination were fantastic, the quality of the suites were brilliant. Very hard wearing and easy to use. The chefs are over the moon” – Connor White, Lead Project Manager – Berkeley Projects

In May 2021 Kerzner International Group opened in Montenegro, the first European super luxury resort of One&Only Portonovi. Positioned at the entrance of Boka Bay, a fjord-like idyll on Montenegro’s Adriatic Sea, One&Only Portonovi is the jewel of Europe’s most fashionable new riviera. In addition to the hotel complex consisting of 113 rooms, suites and swimming pools, the resort has also a residential district of sumptuous villas, each with a private beach and pool. Perfectly in balance with the chic, waterfront location, World-class dining is offered by the à la carte restaurant ‘Sabia’, which bears the signature of Giorgio Locatelli, offering a refined and contemporary menu. In addition, the guest has opportunities to appraise the choices offered by ‘Tapasake Club’, Japanese restaurant, and ‘La Veranda’ with its authentic Montenegrin cuisine.

The requirement

• High-performance kitchens were needed to meet the needs of the various restaurants: 116 indoor and 84 outdoor seats for ‘La Veranda’, 81 indoor, 64 outdoor and another 100 covered by the pool for ‘Tapasake Club’. Finally, another 15 seats inside and 28 outside for the bar.
• Versatility – It was essential to combine the needs of very different kitchens by integrating multipurpose equipment.

The solution

• Ambach proposed the Chef 850 line, capable of combining the demand for high performance
  and customization with exclusive finishes and unique details.
• As required, to meet the different needs, Ambach integrated some special equipment: from pasta cookers to induction ranges, from multifunction bratt-pan to griddles and fryers, to name just a few.
• In the kitchens of restaurant ‘Tapasake’, the modules of both islands are connected utilising the exclusive Ambach junction system, providing a waterproof junction between appliances and work-tables.
• The unique solid and robust hygienic tops are able to withstand sudden changes in temperature and adapt perfectly to any type of configuration.

• Thanks to the smooth surfaces, rounded edges and neutral bases in full H3 standards, Ambach kitchens have also proved to be the optimal choice in terms of ease of cleaning and hygiene

• For the design and construction of the kitchens, Ambach worked together with the consulting company Gastro-Tim. Work began in 2019 and ended at the beginning of 2021. The total area occupied by the kitchens is more than 2000 square meters and also includes open kitchens with live cooking stations.

• The communication between the partners involved was excellent. The overall result met the required delivery times and achieved the high level of customer expectations in terms of the quality and performance of both the Ambach product and the punctuality in the installation.

The 5-star luxury hotel, Mandarin Oriental Bosphorus is located in a strategic position for visiting lively Istanbul and at the same time represents an urban oasis in which to relax among swimming pools and spas, surrounded by the lush greenery of gardens and parks. Only two external floors are above ground, with seven others located below sea level, offering a decidedly unique stay experience.
The two restaurants within the hotel, Novikov and Hakkasan, are among the most well known, popular gastronomic destinations in the city.

The requirement

• The hotel kitchens had to be extremely high performance and robust to meet the demands of the restaurants and large scale event catering.
• High quality equipment was therefore required to compliment the prestigious hotel and match the level of its culinary offers.

The solution

• For this reason, the consulting company MAKPA has successfully proposed the Ambach range of appliances. System 700, 850 and 900 lines were selected throughout the hotel and was carefully designed to meet the different needs of each area.
• The flexibility and modularity of the vertical and horizontal components, configured together with the special Ambach joining system made this project a real success with total customer satisfaction.
• MAKPA has been working on this project for about 2 years. General manager Hakan Küçüker together with his deputy Barkın Yeşilova led the design team in close synergy with Ambach.

The Merrion Hotel has for many years been one of the best-loved luxury hotels in Dublin. Just a five minutes’ walk from the main cultural and entertainment attractions of the city, for over twenty years it has continued to welcome its guests in high-end spaces with exclusive design and first-rate service.

The hotel offers a vast range of dining choices, from the more informal options available at The Cellar Bar to the modern Irish cuisine of The Garden Room, and the more sophisticated dishes served by Patrick Guilbaud, Ireland’s only restaurant with 2 Michelin stars.

After extensive renovation work which ended in 2017, the already high quality standards of the hotel reached even loftier heights.

The brief

• In order to best meet the production needs of the Garden Room restaurant it was necessary to remodel the kitchen with a highly versatile solution which would allow meals to be prepared throughout the day – breakfast, lunch and dinner, every day of the week and every day of the year. The production demands however still had to be matched by high quality. Each dish had to be prepared with always super-fresh ingredients and very great care taken with presentation.
• Chef Ed Cooney also wanted to offer a work environment as comfortable as possible for his team, i.e. a cool and quiet kitchen without excess steam.

The solution

• For Gerry Kane from the company Kaneco, kitchen contractor and longstanding partner of the Merrion, there was no doubt as to the choice of the company which was to build the kitchens: Ambach.
• Together, Kane and Cooney opted for two cooking islands from the Ambach System 900 Exclusive Range, intended both for the bar menus and those of the Garden Room restaurant. Made to measure with a single hygiene top, both are designed with areas dedicated to the various phases of preparation. “Each area is ‘independent’ and equipped with an Ambach island, an oven and refrigeration and patisserie equipment”, explained Kane.
• All this was designed to optimise work. For example, staff entering and exiting move in two different flows. In this way confusion, noise and the risk of breaking plates are considerably reduced. “The work space is now much quieter, easier to manage and cleaner”, commented Kane.
• The kitchen control system also reduces the annual costs of running the air treatment and extractor system by 50%, a significant saving for a kitchen which works non-stop all year.
• Difficulties did however arise during the works. “It was a bit like playing Tetris. We constantly had to move everything from one side to the other without closing down the hotel, not even for a day”, added Kane.
• The greatest challenge came when Kaneco and Cooney had to totally redesign the layout of the kitchen as two large pillars ‘sprang up’ just where the cooking area was intended to be originally. “This forced us to optimise the space available by moving the kitchen by about 50 cm”, explained Kane.
• After having completed the work on the Garden Room kitchen, the team moved on to the other kitchen at basement level. Here, despite the confined spaces, it was possible to allow access to the kitchen thanks to the Ambach system which enabled the island to be turned through 90°. All the equipment was reconfigured in the new position and a patisserie zone was also created.
• Even if the Garden Room kitchen is very different compared to the original design, Cooney and his team expressed great satisfaction at the end result. “It’s a pleasure to work in the new kitchen. I’m pleased with the design as well as the ergonomics and the performances. The work environment at basement level has also really improved”, added Cooney. Judging by the crowd in the restaurant, customers too have not been slow in showing their appreciation, recognising the high added value for the hotel.