Geo Club is a fish deli in Alessandria (in via Bergamo 48). Its story started in 1993 and its main characters are Davide Valsecchi (also known because for a long time he has been a TV chef on the Italian programme “I Menù di Benedetta”) and Riccardo Sini, who with his competence and professionalism declared success for the company: “We knew how to advise the customer on how to cook the fish, this also meant that people also came to us because they felt reassured by the fact that we would tell them how to prepare the product in the best way possible”.
Going from fresh to frozen, and then specializing in fresh, cooked and ready-to-cook fish, the deli now distributes more than 100 meals every day, an equivalent to a daily production of around 20kg worth of production and it has some really inviting dishes on its menu. “Our products range from a salad made with calamari, Taggiasca olives and broccoli, to a salad made with octopus, squid, prawns and vegetables. In addition: salads made with octopus and artichokes, Catalan style prawns, squid with sesame seeds, fish cakes and cod fritters, many different types of lasagne, anchovy parmigiana, cod parmigiana, fried polenta with dried cod, salted codfish with artichokes, fish with fresh vegetables, and many more. If you want to try something a bit different then you will certainly find what you are looking for here. The compliments that we receive are predominantly about the really high quality of our produce and the innovative idea itself. When our clients come into the shop, they don’t want to leave!”
But the specialty of the Geo Club deli is without doubt its fried fish, cooked perfectly without a deep fat fryer. How, you may ask? “Thanks to our SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency Rational (the deli has been using a SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency model 61, 6 griddles GN 1/1, ndr every day since 2012)” explains Davide. “When we opened we didn’t want to install a deep fat fryer because of the consumption, the smell and the fat, but we realized that we couldn’t miss off fried fish from our menu. After much research it was recommended to us that we try frying with Rational. At the beginning we were skeptical, the idea of frying without oil was difficult to accept, but then we were convinced thanks to the excellent result and the positive response from the customers.”
The new technology has brought with it numerous advantages: “Our restaurant serves lunch at midday, but we also supply dishes to take away, therefore it is important to manage everything as best as possible and to always have a steady supply of products. The possibility of cooking more products on more griddles, in a single load, even at different cooking temperatures, has given us the possibility of easily saving 40% of the time dedicated to the kitchen. If I had to do what I do now with the SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency with traditional techniques then I wouldn’t be able to manage everything! Also the variety on offer, which is now very vast, has proven to be very positive! Also, cooking with a probe is best for fresh fish. We can decide to bring the inside of the fish up to the right temperature taking into consideration that the client is going to reheat it at home. Therefore we try to calculate the cooking that the customer is going to add at home, keeping the core of the product 2/3 degrees below in order to avoid having an overcooked and chewy product, which can happen with tuna, for example. The versatility of the SelfCookingCenter whitefficiency Rational really is exceptional!”
What is the everyday challenge? “Managing the vast range of dishes which, thanks to the speed of production of the SelfCookingCenter white efficiency, we are able to do in real time.”