Staying In

Jason Allen 27/03/20


Get Cheap, Delicious Delivery - And An NHS Worker Gets A Free Meal

The London Restaurant Cooperative | Delivery food for £6.50 (and a meal for an NHS worker)

When Le Bab – like every other London restaurant – was forced to close its doors, owner Stephen Tozer didn’t just take it lying down.

He formed The London Restaurant Cooperative, a food delivery service that aims to help out with the Covid-19 crisis using a three-fold, food-based arsenal:

1) The Cooperative is only employing out-of-work hospitality staff to do all the food prep – chefs to cook, and waiters to deliver. At the moment, they’re all from Le Bab (several of whom are ex-Le Gavroche) but they’re bringing staff from other restaurants on board as soon as possible. And as they expand, so does the delivery zone – they’re now covering almost all of Zones 1&2.

2) The meals are designed to be cheap, at only £6.50 a pop, which means it’s a viable option for almost anyone stuck for food.

3) If you throw just £4 on top, they’ll also deliver a meal to a worker at UCL hospital, or to The Connection at St Martin-in-the-Fields homeless shelter. They’re now up to 100 NHS meals a night, and growing.

The costs are so low simply because Tozer is covering the set up costs out of his own pocket, so 100% of the profits go back to the staff. Leftover meals at the end of the day are then left to staff too, to take home to their families.

There are two meal options per day – one vegetarian & one non-vegetarian – all using British produce. So far, they’ve had dishes like glazed BBQ pork ribs, lamb keema curry, shepherd’s pie, and Mexican bean stew. Order before lunch, and you’ll get yours in time for dinner. And there’s a menu of drinks, too.

We could all do with one, after all.

 

PLEASE NOTE: The London Restaurant Cooperative is closed.


Like another ethically minded delivery? Check out The Plattery.