Recent years have seen more and more Thai and Italian restaurants open their doors in Antwerp. ‘It was getting difficult to find authentic Flemish food,’ says managing director Ronny De Backer. That inspired him to try something new: De Bomma.
Food like grandmas make
Mr De Backer opened the first De Bomma restaurant in the historical centre of Antwerp in 2014. The menu featured classic Flemish dishes: baked chicory, Flemish goulash, sauerkraut and, of course, stew. ‘It takes a long time to make a good casserole or stew – 4 or 5 hours. People don't have time for that anymore so they come to us. They want to enjoy tasty, traditional dishes just like their grandma might make. Whether there are 2 customers here or 102, everyone will find something delicious to eat,’ says Mr De Backer. Diners agree: De Bomma's stew was voted the best stew in Flanders by readers of the Antwerpener Gazette.
Second restaurant
De Bomma quickly became a success. ‘We started with five employees and now we have 28 full-time equivalent. The restaurant is almost always full.‘ That led Mr De Backer to open a second ‘De Bomma’ in late March 2019. The new location offers a stunning view onto the River Schelde and Het Steen Castle and seats up to 150 guests across the dining room and terrace spaces. The menu is the same and so is the wall decor – pictures of grandmothers adorn these walls, too.
Sustainable appliances
Sustainability is a priority. Mr De Backer explains: ‘We bought environmentally friendly, sustainable appliances for the new restaurant so that we could protect the planet and minimise electricity consumption. One example is a quick cooling function. It cools 300 kg of stew from 70 °C to 5 °C in under three hours. We also have a cutting-edge extractor fan that uses infrared technology to extract grease from the air, filtering it before it is released into the room clean.’
We need huge warewashing capacity
The dishwashing machines are very energy efficient as well. ‘Our experience with MEIKO at our first restaurant was very positive so we decided to go for a MEIKO dishwashing machine again. But a bigger restaurant needs more warewashing capacity. So we took advice from our dealer (A-Vreys BVBA) and selected a double rack dishwashing machine,’ explains Ronny. The M-iClean HXL provides plenty of space under the hood for two racks and, thanks to the ample entry height, several large, bulky items will fit, too. A MEIKO M-iClean U undercounter dishwashing machine nestles behind the bar. This front loader features an osmosis function for beautifully and hygienically clean glasses. ‘We are the only restaurant in Antwerp to offer free tap water, meaning that we can get through a huge number of glasses per evening. It is a good thing that we have our MEIKO dishwashing machines to deal with the washing up. It is a great relief to our employees!’ Elaborates happy managing director, Mr De Backer.
