The Hottest Products for Your F&B Department

Technology makes many things about our lives easier, smarter and more efficient (well, most of the time). It can save us time and money and even help us protect environmental resources.

But can it bake a soufflé?  Well, as a matter of fact…

Food & Beverage at country, city and golf clubs around the country is changing in drastic ways. Casual dining, sports bars, more gourmet menus and robust wine selections embody some of the changes happening in the front of the house. But what’s happening in the kitchen?  Technology!

Here are some of the hot products cooking in club kitchens around the country.

Stew in This

The combi-oven monitors rack by rack, performing 60 measurements a minute and lets you cook multiple menu items at once — each to perfection. It acts as “prep, assembly line and cooker all at once,” says Inverness Country Club Owner Bill Ochsenhirt, who purchased a combi-oven for his club a few years ago. With this, “we can manage food for a 200 person event with just two staffers.”

Clean Up with This Baby

Yes, it’s “just” a dishwasher. And yes, it saves a ton of water just like most new high efficiency appliances (50% reduction from conventional dishwashers). But wait, there’s more! “It’s all about high efficiency dishwashers now,” says Lucy Titz at food service consultants Savoy Brown, who pointed us to the Insinger Commander variety that requires no exhaust hood or other special space accommodations.

Wine dispensers like this WineStation by Napa Technology are making their way into private clubs. The “intelligent wine system” preserves and dispenses, enabling individual pours of multiple wines and keeping them fresh for up to 60 days. Jim Palm of foodservice supplier and designer Boetler Contract & Design claims wine stations have increased wine awareness and sales at clubs across the country. “They rival the trend in microbreweries,” says Palm, “where you can pour 8, 10 and 12 tap beers at a time.”