An endless queue, a very simple menu and sustainable packaging. Ambiente opened its fast food and already in the first week of operation it showed how demanding and emotional a discipline it is.
“Did I say 200? So give me double that,” shouts Radek Pecko into the phone. Orders for raw materials must increase significantly after seven days of opening a new business. If customers are not choosing in the “hungry window”, which looks industrial but at the same time has a giant marble counter, they take pictures of a colorful paper bag with a burger inside.
In short, Burger Service is now Prague’s new gastro hotspot with everything. With love and hate.
“We are reaping not only a great wave of interest, but also negative reactions. But that’s just the way it is. Do you remember what was said when Eska opened?” Radek Pecko alludes to the disapproving comments regarding the pricing policy. Some blame Burger Service for being too expensive.
You can buy a classic cheeseburger here for 145 crowns, while the menu costs 258 crowns. The most expensive item is the Double Smash Burger, which contains 180 grams of meat from 100% Čestr (Czech spotted cattle). The meat from this breed is supplied by Amaso, but they bake the buns on site and throw them on the grill at the same time as they prepare the meat. There is also homemade lemonade, beer, and milkshakes are on the way.
“We spent a long time fine-tuning the bun with the creative chefs, it is not cut, we bake each half separately, then immediately wrap the meat in it to combine the flavors,” describes Pecko. He is very proud of the fact that his own pickles are added to the hamburgers, which are created within Ambiente.
“It looks like a detail, but it’s not. When you need tons of cucumbers, you need a whole team to grow them, transport them, harvest them, load them. Logistically, it is challenging, but if you ask the suppliers, they will not subordinate their taste and standards to your demands,” explains Radek Pecko. It’s the same with ketchup.
“Someone beat us over the head that you can find Heinz ketchup in our burgers. I stand by the fact that I really like him, but we are already preparing our own. Cooking it again is not a piece of cake, we wanted it from Czech tomatoes, the creative chefs at UM will prepare it for us at the end of October,” says Pecko.
He has been working at Ambiente for 23 years, for many years he worked as a chef at the Pizza Nuovy restaurant. The place he now commands can be found in the area right next door, on Republic Square.
But being in charge of a kitchen in a restaurant and keeping a fast food joint running are two completely different experiences. “It’s incredibly stressful. And joy. The only thing we see is a line of customers standing in front of us,” confesses Pecko.
He estimated that if he and his team of five sell around three hundred hamburgers on the first day, it will be a success. But the first day he released 500, the next day 600 and the number is still growing.
“Of course, we expected the attention, we understand that the season and warm weather are on our way. But at the same time, we did not expect that Burger Service would experience such an onslaught,” says Radek Pecko.
Although it is constantly said that it is Ambiente’s first fast food venture, it is not quite true. You can get your hands on a burger at Naše masa, in Kantýn, the first fast food was the Buffet, where you can also have a hamburger with fries.
The reason why the chain of restaurants, which was famous mainly for its more sophisticated concepts, started fast food right now is its founder Tomáš Karpíšek. “He’s tasted some burgers in Denmark and France and he’s telling us: think about it guys.”
Within a year it was clear, Karpíšk’s idea began to be realized, the visual appearance of the store with the kitchen was taken over by the studio 20—20 Architekti, which will also make changes in the adjacent Pizza Nuova. The result is quite minimalistic and accurate like the menu offer in Burger Service itself.
“I wanted it to be basic good burgers. Like McDonald’s when they started. Fast food in its best form,” says Pecko. Vegetarians are not completely left out, fried cheese in a bun awaits them.
“They offered us meatless burgers made from beans or from a mass that you wouldn’t even know wasn’t meat. We ultimately rejected these options. We don’t want to make substitutes. The guests appreciate that we work with high-quality ingredients and don’t make unnecessarily over-decorated things,” confides Radek Pecko.
When you go to try Burger Service, prepare a dose of patience, especially between half past twelve and two in the afternoon or between half past five and seven in the evening.
Although the business operates until 23:00, it is not too busy here late in the evening. “We want to put a touch pad here so that people can order just like at McDonald’s and we’ve made it even faster.” Even if you now have to wait a few minutes for your hamburger, Radek Peck’s team will create around thirty pieces in fifteen minutes.
“A person who comes to work with us must above all be precise and fast. It’s an intense experience,” describes the chef and co-owner, whose working day now starts at six in the morning and ends after midnight.
A separate chapter is the overall design of the company. The logotype created by the Najbrt studio is unmissable. It resembles a classic car repair shop on the outskirts of the city, the mascot, nicknamed Hambáč, evokes Michelin decorated with a varied palette of colors.
The packaging is not only striking, but also functional. They are made of Ideabrill, which can replace both bowls and foil. In addition, its production has a much lower impact on the environment than paper or plastic. It also promises to keep food fresh for longer.
Which is great for delivery, which is also planned. “We will also have our own merchandising, we want to make more interesting side dishes. I had big eyes, but it’s important to proceed step by step so that we don’t go crazy,” laughs Pecko.
Did Tomáš Karpíšek’s hamburger from his Service taste the same as foreign inspiration? “He came, ate and said it was delicious. By his recommendation, I call it the advice of Pták Loskuták. He is not always positive, but he is always right,” Radek Pecko concludes.
2023-09-10 16:05:58
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