Tricon Foodservice Consultants’ latest UK project is an impressive addition to the growing Stratford skyline. The Stratford Hotel, designed by SOM Architects (of One World Trade Centre fame), brings something new and exciting to the East End of London, just seven minutes by train from King’s Cross St Pancras.

Manhattan Loft Corporation commissioned Tricon to develop the food, beverage, laundry and waste management design package for the 42-story, double cantilevered tower building.

Collaborating with interior architecture firm Space Copenhagen, Tricon have brought a strong Nordic-inspired design to the entire fit-out. A quick spin through the revolving doors welcomes you directly into the ground floor Brasserie all-day dining restaurant, an opening which lays out what to expect throughout the rest of the hotel. The open kitchen delivers a theatrical element to the Brasserie, where guests can watch as the chefs carefully prepare breakfast, lunch and evening meals as well as plates to be delivered via room service.

A different experience all together can be had on the seventh floor. Allegra, is a luxe, fine dining restaurant and bar by former Chiltern Firehouse Head Chef, Patrick Powell. Here modern European cuisine is blended with authentic old-school hospitality. Tricon worked closely with Patrick to ensure the kitchen he leads was everything he envisioned it would be. Explaining the process of design Patrick said, “I gave Tricon some sketches of how I’d like the kitchen to look, I had assessed the floor space that we had and planned out on paper what I thought would work and handed it over to them. They took the drawings and told me what would and what wouldn’t work from what I had envisioned and we developed the design together.”

The design grew from Patrick’s drawings, whilst still adhering to them and delivering the chef with what he envisaged. Despite being a blank canvas, there were a lot of obstacles within the design. It was a difficult space in terms of drainage, and the extraction had to be pulled the whole way across the building to provide the kitchen with natural light. There was also a tricky stairway that had to go in the middle of it all which caused a number of issues.

There are two stand-out elements to the Allegra kitchen that Patrick feels takes it from a good to a great kitchen, and this is down to the design and equipment Tricon implemented into the design.

Firstly, Patrick was set on incorporating an Athanor cook-suite into his dream kitchen having used one before while working at Wild Honey in Mayfair. He said, “I told Tricon what I would like, and they made so many really great suggestions to create and refine what I wanted. The cook-suite has been amazing, there’s been zero issues with it.

“It’s a tank of a stove; it just doesn’t stop and it’s easy to clean which is a real perk. Everytime you leave service it looks new again. Ben and I both have one in our kitchens; we’ve found they’re really efficiently laid out. They’re efficient in the energy that they use, it’s an absolute machine of a thing, it’s amazing,” Patrick said.

On the outdoor terrace, a Robata Grill has been designed and fitted for the summer months.The woodfired grill adds a whole other layer to the kitchen allowing Patrick to cook with fire as well as using induction equipment in the kitchen. It’s a showpiece and something that adds that extra edge to the already impressive Allegra offering. Patrick boasts, “It’s the nicest kitchen I have ever worked in and we show it off to a lot of people. When we have visitors, we always make sure to show off the kitchen.”