Exquisite dishes for fast and convenient preparation in dialog oven

At the last IFA exhibition, Miele presented its new dialog oven. Now, a startup called MChef is set to deliver top-class cuisine to your home: Superior three-course menus, served and arranged on elegant porcelain – and ready to be cooked to perfection in a customer's own dialog oven. The gourmet service, unique throughout the world, is due to start in September in North Rhine-Westphalia and to be extended to cover the whole of Germany from the beginning of next year. 

How about tatar with Scottish Loch Duart salmon for starters, with marinaded shrimps and a small salad? Followed by fillet of Hereford prime beef with jus of red wine, vegetable strips and potato truffle gratin? And tiramisu pyramid cake with berry ragout and filled Amarettinis? These and a further 16 dishes, including vegetarian and vegan options and special creations for kids, are on the menu list presented by Martin Eilerts, founder and CEO of MChef in Bielefeld.

The target audience for the new gourmet service are owners of a dialog oven who wish to dine as if in their favourite restaurant in the comfort of their own home. 'This can be at a representative dinner party, family celebrations or at a candle-lit dinner for two', says Martin Eilerts. Orders received online by 12.30 h will be delivered the next day, 365 days a year. Up to six dishes can be prepared in a dialog oven simultaneously. The average cooking time is 20 minutes. MChef delivers individual dishes to choice as well as complete three-course menus. On request, orders can include a suitable wine or Champagne, naturally at the correct temperature for serving.

Top-level pleasure and service

'With this business model, MChef is adding a new dimension to service and pleasure and is at the same time underlining the innovating power of the Miele brand beyond the bounds of its traditional fields of business', says Dr. Axel Kniehl, Executive Director Marketing and Sales with the Miele Group. Indeed, these dishes, artfully arranged on elegant porcelain plates, were specifically created for the dialog oven, which has been on the market in Germany and Austria since June. Three properties above all put the MChef in good stead: that different ingredients are cooked to perfection at the same time, the superior quality achieved and its unbeatable speed. Mistakes during preparation are virtually eliminated by virtue of the fact that all users need to do is to simply place the plates with the food into the dialog oven which is then started from the MChef app with the appropriate settings.

Martin Eilerts worked in consultancy and as Managing Director of a privately owned company before developing the MChef concept. He benefits from his experience in the kitchens of upmarket hotels and restaurants as a fully trained chef de cuisine and university-trained businessman. 'MChef delivers haute cuisine to the customer's table', is the vision of the Bielefeld startup. Quality demands on suppliers, service and deliveries are commensurately high.

Transport box with four climatic zones

Shipping complete menus on fine porcelain places huge demands on logistics. A transport box, specially designed for the purpose, can take up to eight dishes as well as wine and champagne, if selected. Up to four different climatic zones maintain temperatures of between -18°C and +18°C. This ensures that the delivery on its way to customers stays fresh for up 24 hours. Once removed from the container, menus can be stored at the appropriate temperature for up to five days. The transport packaging including the used crockery is picked up and returned to the supplier by a courier.

After its launch as a pilot in North Rhine-Westphalia in autumn, MChef will be rolled out across Germany from January onwards. Further expansion is conceivable. Miele Executive Director Axel Kniehl: 'There are needs for this level of culinary service in other countries, too'. For further information: www.mchef.de

(642 words, 3,926 characters incl. spaces)

Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. This line-up is augmented by dishwashers, washer-extractors and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Professional Business Unit). The Miele company, founded in 1899, has eight production plants in Germany as well as one plant each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China and Romania. 2017/18 turnover amounted to approx. EUR 4.1 bn with sales outside Germany accounting for 70%. Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in almost 100 countries. The Miele company, now in the fourth generation of family ownership, employs a workforce of around 20,100, 11,200 thereof in Germany. The company headquarters are located in Gütersloh/Westphalia, Germany.