Dean Banks is a rare breed of chef; sufficiently experienced to know a good business opportunity when he sees one, yet young enough to enjoy the fruits of his hard work and make the most of his future. At just 36, he already has no fewer than seven establishments to his name and always seems to be focused on the next one.
With menus that marry the best of land and sea from across Scotland, he has long championed local produce and using ingenious preservation methods when devising his menus; quality is king, even when it’s not his own.
And now, as a finalist in the coveted Scottish Excellence Award Chef of the Year category, he answers a few questions about what keeps him going at such an energetic pace and explains why he trusts Nespresso Professional to guarantee quality results for his customers every time.
Turns out quality coffee has a lot to do with it…
CS: What factors do you consider when choosing coffee for your restaurants?
DB: ‘There are several factors I think about when choosing a coffee machine, I always start with where the machine is going to be located and sometimes this requires to be customer facing, with Nespresso machines looking the part it makes life easier to work around. Second is staff training and if they require a full-time barista. The way Nespresso is set up it helps so much with this as when the machines have been programmed it’s as easy as pressing a button. Third is consistency, with Nespresso we are almost guaranteed the same results every time which for a chef this is exactly what I want with my coffee and my restaurant’s as a whole.’
CS: Your establishments feature Nespresso Professional products. What made you select that particular brand?
DB: ‘The team at Nespresso have been so helpful and help guide me into what requirements we need. It’s super easy and very helpful as they calculate how many coffees on average we make and then they do all the hard work for us.’
CS: What Nespresso machine do you use, and why did you choose it for your business?
DB: ‘We chose the Nespresso Aguila 220 Professional Coffee Pods Machine because it’s so consistent and has the capacity to deal with our customer’s requirements. I particularly love the chrome finish and how you can customise some of the programs to our needs and cup sizes.’
CS: How has working with Nespresso influenced the coffee offerings in your restaurants?
DB: ‘Nespresso has allowed our staff to provide many more coffee options to customers without the need for full coffee training. We unfortunately don’t have a barista on at every location, so when the Nespresso machines are this good it’s basically like having our own Barista at hand 24/7.’
CS: Have you noticed an increased customer uptake since you began offering Nespresso?
DB: ‘Yes, since moving to Nespresso and offering serval varieties of flavours we have had a great uptake in coffees. When using a grinder it’s difficult to own several due to space and costs. With Nespresso it’s as simple as choosing another pod. I really do like there seasonal options and single sources also.’
CS: What are the advantages of using Nespresso during peak hours or high-demand periods?
DB: ‘The advantages are super clean working spaces without coffee grains and milk everywhere in a busy shift. The Nespresso machines make life a breeze for staff. I do like that our machine can add a little more coffee or milk so you can still customise the coffee to a guest’s needs very simply and quickly which makes service super smooth and clean. Clean back of house areas make for a stress free service.’
CS: How do you adapt your coffee offering for different seasons or special events?
DB: ‘We usually have our classics set however our staff are very creative. We use Nespresso coffee in dessert such as our coffee souffle at the Pompadour, Nespresso chocolate petite four at Haar and Dulse loves to make Irish coffees using many different liqueurs and flavoured coffees.’
www.deanbanks.co.uk
www.nespresso.com/pro/uk/en/
www.scottishexcellenceawards.com