More online www.thecaterer.com Lorcan Spiteri and Caravel


“We opened with a tiny oven – the size of a microwave – that got cold as soon as you opened it” Lorcan Spiteri


ject let loose and his main concern was would there be enough passing trade? And would the kitchen work to fulfil enough orders? Erring on the side of caution, he laid roots in a small building in Hackney Churchyard which he says is the perfect size. In fact, they expanded briefly by introduc-


Lorcan Spiteri at Caravel Lorcan Spiteri is head chef at Caravel in north London, a restaurant on a barge which he runs with his brother


Post-lockdown a run of barges that were used as offices on Regent’s Canal were left vacant, a chance byproduct of the pandemic that left Spiteri with the opportunity to transform one into a restaurant. Barge secured, there was the slight issue of getting plumbing and electric- ity aboard, but the next hurdle was furnishing the kitchen to serve 40 on a budget. “We opened with a tiny oven – the size of


a microwave – that got cold as soon as you opened it, a couple of induction hobs, a fryer and a plancha,” he says. Once they proved the formula, they upgraded slightly, and there’s a prep kitchen offsite too, but day-to-day


Space-saving tips


“Build shelves up the walls as high as you can, and add a foldaway ladder that allows you to reach everything.” Roberta Hall


“Be tight with your orders so you never have too much food to prep and keep at any one time.” James Goodyear


“Invest in multi-purpose kit like fridge drawers which can be used for refrigeration as well as prep surfaces when pulled out.” Tommy Banks


“Work out what you need as you go, and upgrade slowly so you get it right rather than rushing things.” Lorcan Spiteri


“Don’t be afraid to try new things. There’s usually a clever way to fit something in if you want it badly enough.” Max Fishman


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Bad Manners chef Rodrigo Cervantes. Left: the Bad Manners team with Max Fishman (right)


22 March 2024 | The Caterer | 37


everything’s done from just a few square metres at the end of the boat. Spiteri’s most-loved item is his wheelie


shelves that he can pile “full of stuff that can stay ambient”, because fridge real-estate is pre- cious. If they need more of anything during service it’s delivered from the prep kitchen through an overhead hatch, but mostly he says the confines work because their food “isn’t fancy. We don’t do foams and gels, we just do classic cooking with good flavours.” Despite not being a traditional chef’s coun-


ter, the open-ended element means there’s still interaction with guests, which benefits both customers (who get a bit of a show) and the team, who are able to hear first-hand how people have enjoyed their food. “People come and say thank you, and


that’s super-nice to hear. If it comes straight from the customer it gives you a boost when you’ve had a tough service. Everyone likes a little compliment.”


Max Fishman at Bad Manners Max Fishman owns Bad Manners, a Mexican café he runs with chef Rodrigo Cervantes from a converted info-booth in Hackney Churchyard


Max Fishman from Bad Manners – a hole in the wall, unconventional Mexican restaurant – isn’t a chef, so he’s looking at his confined space from a whole other angle. With a back- ground in management consulting, his route into hospitality was a lockdown passion pro-


ing an outdoor grill last summer, but commu- nication was then cut off between the indoor and outdoor teams, resulting in “carnage” that Fishman says he’s unlikely to want to repeat. Instead of immediately redesigning the


space, the present kitchen has been a slow evolution. “I’m always surprised. I think we have very little space, then we buy another piece of kit and we have to find somewhere for it to go,” he says. He’s managed to squeeze in tiny versions of things, like a mini dehydrator and a petite purpose-built ferments cupboard. The menu is overseen by Rodrigo Cer-


vantes, who used to work for a number of sites under restaurant group Super8, includ- ing the tiny Thai restaurant Kiln, which inevi- tably gave him a penchant for pinched spaces. Fishman says the key to success is knowing


their limits: “We’ve had to design our menu around our equipment, so almost everything is cooked on the plancha which has inciden- tally helped us to secure our success as a go-to for less traditional Mexican food.”


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