Star chef André Gerrits pleased with his kitchen screens

The goal: efficiency and calm

Gerrits’ empire has since expanded to include the quality bistro and hotel combined in ‘Bistrotel ’t Amsterdammertje’ and the delicatessen shop ‘Marché ’t Amsterdammertje’. “When we were opening a new location, we started exploring automation. After positive feedback from fellow chefs and an interesting demo, we decided to work with the DISH POS system and the digital ‘DISH Kitchen Manager’ screens. Our main goal was to achieve greater efficiency and more calm.”

From key-ring board to digital overview

André explains: “At Michelin-star level, every detail must be perfect. We aim for the ultimate taste experience, and the precise timing of drinks, dishes, and table setting is essential. To get that timing right, we previously worked at ’t Amsterdammertje with paper tickets and the well-known system where colored key fobs with table numbers had to be moved at each stage of service. That system basically works, but it is very time-consuming, prone to errors, and honestly outdated. It took far too much time and energy to constantly move and check everything to see which stage of service we were in. There had to be an easier way, we thought.”

Working method with the kitchen screens
 

“With the DISH Kitchen Manager, manual moving is a thing of the past. We now work as follows:

• The maître d’ sets the timing and communicates via a tablet when the kitchen should start preparing the next course.
• In the kitchen, each station has a screen that automatically displays notifications. You can see right in front of you which preparations you should start.
• The service staff, in turn, also sees on a screen what they need to do and which dishes they can serve.

This creates calm and saves a lot of time. I think it saves the service staff about an hour each day. In the kitchen, we can also quickly see which tables are synchronized in terms of courses. We can then easily combine them into a single ticket and prepare everything at once. It works really well.”

Easily make changes

Bas explains: “Even at this level, it sometimes happens that something is missed on an order, a ticket is entered incorrectly, or a guest wants to change their choice. With the old system, correcting this was difficult and quickly became very confusing. You can handle these situations with the digital kitchen screens. The digital ticket is updated immediately if the preparation hasn’t started yet. If work has already begun on the course, we get a warning so we can take action right away and still have everything ready on time.”

Perfect for the Bistro

“The workflow in the Bistro is different from the Michelin-star restaurant. Here, we take orders using the DISH Handhelds and send everything directly to the kitchen screens. There, we can clearly see for each station what needs to be prepared and whether a colleague at another station has already started. This allows us to coordinate everything perfectly and serve dishes simultaneously. For this workflow, the DISH Kitchen Manager is the best system you can have,” says André.

Takes a bit of getting used to

“People are creatures of habit. It really took some time and effort to get used to the new workflow, especially if you’ve been doing things differently for a long time. But I’m glad we made the switch to digital kitchen screens. Besides saving the service staff a lot of time, we also operate faster in the kitchen, which creates more calm. The younger generation, of course, is very familiar with technology and adapts to a digital system much faster than to a traditional way of working. Personally, I also enjoy seeing the DISH Kitchen Manager screens in all kinds of establishments. Not just with us, but for example as well at our neighbors, the popular fast-service spot Hans & Frietje. Digital screens are the future.”