The Brief
We were asked to supply and install a unique kitchen for a new concept of a wellbeing restaurant offering a fully plant based menu. It was important to the client that all equipment specified followed the company’s ‘wellbeing’ ethos, including ethical supply chain and ecological credentials. We needed to:
- Work to a small budget of £100,000.00
- Provide advice on design elements and operational logistics
- Create an open kitchen capable of servicing 70-80 covers as well as being able to be used as a production kitchen
- Ecological source counter tops, concrete and tiles verified low scope 3 emissions
- Supply equipment with high ecological credentials
Services
Commercial Kitchen Design, Commercial Kitchen Installation
Location
Islington, London
Sector
Bespoke Design & Front-of-House
Awards
ceda Grand Prix Awards 2019 – Design Project £50k to £200k Finalist
About Wild Food Café
Wild Food Café is one of London’s leading raw-centric plant-based restaurants. Their ethos is to serve innovative, fresh, and mineral rich foods that nourish the body, mind, and soul.
Following the opening of their Covent Garden cafe, they had the ambition to open their second, larger site in Islington to provide a more restaurant offering.
The Wild Food Café combines great food with environmentally and ethically enriching policies in all aspects of the business.
We are very happy with the result and how space has been maximized. It has improved morale and efficiency enabling us to increase our food offerings, with covers up too.
TAG have provided us with a spacious and ergonomic kitchen which allows us to deliver food at a new level and they took care to make sure our operational needs were met with the equipment specification and layout; the team are very happy.
The Solution
Before taking on this project, an interior design company had proposed some initial design and layouts, however these were not operationally viable for the client’s needs. We completely redesigned the space and invested time into understanding the menu, company ethos and site, and providing specialist advice.
The existing kitchen area was small and compact, but the client needed it to work as a production kitchen to help other sites, so we reinvented our kitchen design principles.
All equipment specified was selected for running costs, water waste, supply chain and even type of chemicals used. The client wanted minimal or no use of chemicals; and for materials to be natural where possible. We even collaborated with their preferred chemical suppliers to ensure all equipment would function efficiently.
Part of our design was to bring the pizza oven into view, creating a focal point in the restaurant. This was previously proposed back-of-house, however we helped highlight to the client the benefits of having it on show. Not only giving kerbside appeal, but customers know exactly where their food comes from and can see it being made fresh.
We created a bespoke central island with inset induction and fridges, offering the ergonomics and bespoke feel of an expensive on-off range, but at a very affordable price.
Matched with bespoke fabrication throughout to create hygiene seamless counters, featuring inset chilled wells, drawer fridges below. Helping further improve the ergonomics and reducing the amount of walking chefs had to do in the kitchen.
The compact bar design incorporated frosted glass on the bottle coolers. The design had to allow for a large amount of smoothies and juices with multiple stations all catering for a specific and unique menu.
The Outcome
The finished kitchen is totally unique and fits perfectly with the aesthetic of the restaurant, the customer is really pleased how we maximized the space.
We have been delighted to hear Chefs report how excited they are to be working in such a generous space. From viewing initial drawings by the interior designers, they thought it was going to be very cramped, but our clever design has made the best use of space.
The client also commended us on our professional approach, attention to detail and how flexible and easy to work with our team was, from the designers to installers right through to the office-based service and accounts teams.
