Established in 2013, Elysian Residences was founded with the philosophy that as you get older, life should continue to be fulfilling, engaging, and uplifting. The series of luxury retirement villages offers all the amenities of a hotel, including a bar, restaurant, gym, and concierge, with optional services and support.
The Denton in Berkhamsted is one of the newest Elysian sites to open its doors to residents. As general manager, David Banisadeghian is responsible for daily operations, managing residents’ expectations, and leading the broader team at The Denton. High on his priority list is compliance, as he explains:
“Record keeping and compliance is essential to our business. We want to adhere to all legislation and regulations. At times it can be challenging, especially if it is manual recording or has paperwork involved.”
Head Chef, Enrico Lizzio, oversees all mealtimes as well as events at The Denton, and agrees manual recording can be challenging:
“As a new venue, there were only two of us in the kitchen team, and we needed to start everything from zero. Because it’s a very small team and it was only me at the beginning, to do all the preparation and check all the temperatures was actually very challenging.”
To anticipate these challenges, a Monika system was installed at The Denton during the build phase, following success across several other Elysian sites. Kate Aston, Senior Sales Consultant at Monika describes the relationship:
“The first Elysian project we completed was with The Landsby, back in 2021. The project came to us via Humble Arnold, who designed the kitchen operation, and they specified Monika to ensure the operation had a food safety and compliance element to it.”
Since then, Monika has gone on to partner with five Elysian sites, with a further three due to come online shortly.
The Denton is equipped with a full Monika system, which encompasses Equipment, Team, and Enterprise Management. On the Equipment Management front, Monika’s discreet in-unit sensors consistently monitor and record fridge, freezer, and cold room temperatures 24/7, 365 days per year.
Under the Team Management function, Enrico’s team can utilise Monika’s handheld probe and smart PA device to complete regular temperature checks of stock throughout the delivery, storage, preparation, and serving process. The PA device can also be programmed with a bespoke list of tasks for staff to check off as completed, including opening and close down procedures.
Finally, Monika’s Enterprise Management module refers to the software that collates all the data collected from various sensors into one convenient dashboard. Individual sites, such as The Denton, can view all live temperature readings, and view which tasks have been completed, when, and by whom. Meanwhile, permitted managers can view all sites simultaneously. This is ideal for groups like Elysian Residences that aim for consistency. The ability to access this dashboard while off site also makes it ideal for multisite managers looking to compare performance and identify potential training opportunities.
Enrico describes his experience working with the Monika system for the first time:
“At the beginning I was a little bit sceptical because I’ve always worked with paper. But slowly I came to appreciate Monika was everything in the one device. With the help of Kate, I started to use Monika more and input all my tasks in the PA device. The fact that I can check all the temperatures straight away – even if I’m home – and that the alerts come to my email, is actually a great peace of mind.”
These alerts have already had a positive impact on The Denton. Enrico recalls an instance of a freezer malfunction, which was highlighted by Monika:
“One time, one of the freezers was not working properly. I noticed it straight away as Monika was sending me emails with the alerts. Monika was showing the unit was reading -11oC, when it was supposed to be -18oC. Because of this, I passed a message on to the maintenance team and we managed to repair it.”
The ability to set pre-determined safe temperature ranges with Monika means these kinds of alerts enable teams to quickly take corrective action, or identify faults before they become expensive repairs. David agreed the Monika dashboard is particularly useful when he and Enrico sit down together to identify trends that might indicate an ongoing issue. By detecting the issue early on, teams can eliminate expensive appliance replacements. For smaller issues, such as a door being left open accidentally, teams can quickly address these alerts to eliminate unnecessary food waste.
All corrective actions are automatically logged to the Monika system, which is ideal for inspections, as Kate explains:
“The main benefit of having a system like Monika is that you get the accountability and traceability. All of the data is in the platform, so, when EHO arrive, all of that data is there.”
Both David and Enrico agreed the Monika system is extremely intuitive, with Enrico commenting that two weeks of use was enough to be fully versed, while David praised the training provided:
“We’re extremely pleased with the training and support that we have received from Monika. It has been a very seamless journey.”
From a chef perspective, Enrico summarised that he would highly recommend Monika:
“I 100% recommend Monika. The first reason is because of the temperature monitoring. I know for other chefs how important it is to know that the fridge and freezers are actually working properly. Also because you save so much time – for us, as a chef that is so important. I think it’s the future.”
David agreed, summarising:
“I think this platform will revolutionise the way compliance has been done traditionally and make life much easier for chefs.
I recommend them, not just because of the product that they have, but also for the follow-up, the training, and the customer service that they have provided for The Denton at Elysian Residences.”
To find out more about Elysian Residences, please visit: https://elysianresidences.com/