THE HYGIENE CONCEPT
New dining concepts are emerging all the time. But hygiene needs to be a running theme in any restaurant whatever its concept, says Essity’s Amelia Baker.
Eating out has never been so much fun. New technology plus an ever-increasing range of culinary options have spawned a whole new era of concept dining.
Restaurant-goers can now sample the cuisine of practically any nation. Or they can opt for raw food, nostalgic comfort fare, retro dining or something much more bizarre and high-tech.
At TT Liquor in Shoreditch for example, projection and optical techniques are used to bring the restaurant table to life. Guests take a culinary journey from France to the Far East while fire-breathing dragons, birds and boats hover over their placemats in a mind-blowing 3D dining experience. Meanwhile a virtual chef wanders around the table, muttering in French.
Another dining concept run by Gingerline is similarly bizarre. Described as a multi-dimensional experience, Chamber of Flavours combines absurdist adventure with interactive theatre, multimedia art and avant-garde culinary experimentation. The description is kept deliberately vague since all concrete details of the experience – including the menu and even the restaurant’s exact East London location – are kept under wraps until the day of the diner’s visit.
The clean food revolution has led to a number of organic vegetarian and vegan restaurants popping up such as the well-known Farmacy in Notting Hill. Here guests can dine on burgers made from millet, black beans and mushrooms served in a sourdough vegan bun with goji ketchup.
Those seeking retro comfort food can head for the Coin Laundry in Exmouth Market where 70s favourites such as fish fingers, vol-au-vents and chicken kievs are served. Heading back even further into the past, medieval banquets are on offer at a number of authentic venues across the country
42 | FOOD HYGIENE
such as Lumley Castle in County Durham. Here, guests are served with a five-course Tudor meal - with only a dagger and a bib to help them eat it.
And anyone keen to empathise with the visually impaired can head for Clerkenwell where they can dine in pitch darkness. Dans le Noir features a surprise menu served to guests by visually-impaired waiters. Diners need to cope with the challenge of locating their food and cutlery while also trying to work out what they are eating – and how to eat it.
“More than 75% said they would not return to an establishment
where the toilets were unclean.”
But no matter how bizarre the dining concept, good hygiene should always be front and centre of every experience. It is particularly crucial in theme restaurants where diners are more likely to eat using their hands.
For example, in venues such as Dans le Noir and Lumley Castle, the use of cutlery is either a challenge or not an option so it is more important than ever for the diner to have access to good hand hygiene facilities.
Luckily, most good restaurateurs are fully aware of this and ensure that their washrooms are completely up-to-date and functional – whether this ties in with the theme or not. At Lumley Castle the toilets are clean, modern and a far cry from the 14th century garderobes or holes in the wall that
guests might have expected in the Middle Ages. And the pitch-dark dining experience at Dans Le Noir does not extend to the washrooms, which are well-lit to allow diners to wash and dry their hands thoroughly.
Let us not forget, however, that hand hygiene is crucial in any restaurant whether cutlery is used or not. Items such as bread, nuts and olives are often offered to diners before a meal while cheese and fruit are served afterwards – and all are largely eaten with the hands.
So washroom facilities in any restaurant should be clean, well- stocked and user-friendly and serve as an extension to the dining experience. And an impressive washroom offering an extra level of luxury will make guests feel pampered while reassuring them that the management cares about cleanliness.
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