Sefton Horn Winch

case study
 

The Delaunay, in London’s Aldwych, is SeftonHornWinch’s second project with Rex Restaurant Associates, run by much admired restaurateurs Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, owners of The Wolseley in London.  Gareth Sefton, director, SeftonHornWinch (SHW) says “They are one of the UK’s best restaurant groups in quality and service and it’s great to work for them.”
Like The Wolseley, The Delaunay, which opened in December 2011, is an all-day operation, but it is more mid European in character. Even in the short time it has been open it has already built up a good reputation, with a five star review from Fay Maschler, Evening Standard restaurant critic.  It consists of a 170 seat restaurant; two private dining rooms which combine to seat up to 24; and “The Counter”, a takeaway and deli counter where SHW worked closely with interior designer David Collins, designing the hot display, refrigeration and the ‘set up’ on the counter.
The challenge for SHW was to create a restaurant kitchen in the basement, capable of handling up to 1,500 covers a day. This means that a huge amount of food is transported from the basement to the restaurant via food hoists. “The biggest issue is to keep the food hot,” adds Gareth. “The kitchen has been designed to work in a flow pattern.”  Lee Ward, head chef, is full of praise for the new kitchen. “Chefs worry about the kitchen being too hot and badly lit, but there’s no problem with this kitchen as we have a larger proportion of electric to gas equipment which keeps the heat down.”
Breakfast business is important at The Delaunay, which has a full breakfast menu serving a large choice of dishes including eggs Benedict, omelettes, viennoiserie and granola.  Gareth points out that breakfast items “don’t travel well but it is essential that the food arrives hot at the table.”  SHW specified equipment such as Winston Industries’ Hold & Serve drawers which Gareth describes as “a massive leap forward as it can hold items like poached eggs without drying them out. People want breakfast quickly so any assistance modern technology provides is a bonus.”
The relationship between the two companies, which began six years ago, goes from strength to strength as SeftonHornWinch (SHW) will be working on Rex Restaurant Associates’ upcoming ventures.  SHW will be designing the new kitchen and bars at Brasserie Zédel (formerly Atlantic Bar & Grill) due to open in early summer. “Brasserie Zédel will be offering high quality good value dishes such as steak frites,” says Gareth. Brasserie Zédel continues SHW’s working relationship with David Collins Studio.  “We will be designing a kitchen in a central London space that’s awkward in terms of shape and a third of the kitchen is on a raised floor,” says Gareth.  At the former Oriel in Sloane Square, which is planned to open in the summer, SHW will be designing a kitchen and bar.  Working with property group Grosvenor Estates, RexRA is developing a 73 bedroom/suite hotel in Balderton Street, Mayfair.  The plans retain as much as possible of the existing building, including the principal elevations. The hotel is due to open in 2014. SHW will be working on a split level basement kitchen for the 100 seater restaurant and a finishing service kitchen on the ground floor.