At Restaurant OIO, the distance between the dining room and the kitchen is more than a few steps.
The restaurant and terrace are located on the ground floor of a historic building in Luxembourg, while Leonardo De Paoli and his brigade work from the kitchen one floor above. A beautiful setting for a restaurant, but not the easiest setup for a busy service.
Before Annoncer, OIO relied on paper tickets to connect the two floors. Orders were printed downstairs and then had to be communicated upstairs. Changes, special requests and allergies often meant another trip up the stairs.
For the front of house team, that meant time away from the dining room. For the kitchen, it meant constantly receiving, reading, sorting and calling out tickets.
“Someone had to manage it all. Quite often, that someone was me.”
Quite often, that someone was Leonardo himself.
When ticket management takes over.
During a busy service, managing the flow of orders could easily take more than an hour of Leonardo’s time. Time spent reading tickets, organising orders and calling them out to the brigade, rather than cooking, checking dishes at the pass or leading his team.
Paper was not always a reliable partner either. Tickets could get lost or become difficult to read because of moisture and grease. Especially during busy weekend services, one missing or unclear ticket could quickly lead to extra questions, delays and unnecessary pressure.
The physical distance between the two floors only added to the problem. Front of house staff regularly had to go upstairs to double check an order, communicate a last minute change or explain an allergy or special request.
Every extra check meant less focus on the service itself.
For Leonardo, it became clear that too much time and attention was going into managing information.
Inspired by silence.
Then Leonardo experienced what a very different kind of kitchen could look like.
While dining at a three Michelin starred restaurant, he noticed something unexpected: a brigade of around 40 people working in remarkable silence.
“There were around 40 people in that kitchen, but hardly anyone had to shout. Everyone knew what needed to happen.”
Despite the size of the team and the complexity of the service, there was hardly any unnecessary communication. The kitchen simply seemed to know what needed to happen next.
That experience stayed with him. It showed him that a busy kitchen did not have to feel hectic. With the right information available at the right moment, a brigade could work with more focus, more control and fewer interruptions.
That was exactly the kind of working environment Leonardo wanted to create at OIO.
