25-06-07 New Fine Dining restaurant, Abstract chooses Zonal EPoS

The Glenmoriston Town House Hotel and Restaurant is widely recognised as a premium venue offering superior customer service, luxury accommodation and fine dining for all discerning locals and visitors to Inverness, the capital of the Scottish highlands. When looking to expand their operation, Larsen and Ross, the owners of the Glenmoriston Town House Hotel and Restaurant, decided to invest in a restaurant and bar in Scotland’s capital city. Their new Restaurant and Bar is called Abstract, and can be found on the site of a former Chinese restaurant in Castle Terrace. Focussing on modern French cuisine using the finest Scottish ingredients, the 70 cover restaurant boasts a chef’s table and a separate piano bar. Opening in March this year, Abstract is already regularly packed and is receiving 5 star reviews.

As a winner of a Michelin rising star for 2007, three AA Rosettes, and the Scottish Hotel Restaurant of the year award for two years running for the Glenmoriston Town House Hotel and Restaurant, Larsen and Ross are not ones to compromise on quality. Naturally, Larsen and Ross selected Zonal to provide its Z509 EPoS terminals for the front of house and the Aztec Management System for Site and Head Office management.

Zonal’s EPoS terminals are located in the main part of the restaurant as well as behind the bar. The EPoS solution uses five printers to convey order details instantly from the waiters to the kitchen, to the bar and the still room (where hot drinks are prepared) so that order processing can begin immediately.

All restaurant and bar processes are supported by the Aztec Management system on-site and at Head Office. The restaurant manager is able to oversee all operations from the Site PC and make any necessary modifications to the system on a day-to-day basis. The Site and Head Office management systems allow both the restaurant manager in Edinburgh and senior management in Inverness to monitor the restaurant and assist with stocktaking and purchasing as well as viewing all food and drink transactions.

Larsen and Ross Finance Manager Brian Calder said: “We have found Zonal EPoS to be invaluable at Abstract. It allows the restaurant itself to run smoothly, as waiting staff can place the orders with the kitchen in a clear and concise manner without entering the kitchen itself. It ensures greater communication between the restaurant itself and the chefs in the kitchen and this results in speed of service, especially as the kitchen is located below the bar and restaurant area.”

Mark Isaac, Zonal Sales Manager said: “Larsen and Ross has already won critical acclaim for its Hotel and Restaurant in Inverness and we are delighted that Zonal’s EPoS solution has been chosen to help them establish similar recognition for the new Abstract restaurant and bar in Edinburgh. The power of Aztec’s Head Office management applications makes it easy for Larsen and Ross to retain as much or as little control as it requires from its Head Office in Inverness.”

Brian Calder added: “It works brilliantly for the company, because we are based primarily in Inverness and it allows us to keep up-to-date with the business at all times, on a minute by minute basis if necessary. We required an EPoS system that was robust and could attend to our requirements, with the technical back up from the provider itself.”

“Zonal understands our needs and has designed its systems to cater for our needs perfectly.”