The Restaurant Show at Kensington Olympia is a must-visit event for London’s hospitality folk. Among the many exhibitors are a host of tableware and cutlery brands looking to catch the eye of the chefs, FOH staff and restaurateurs that attend. Me? Well, I was just there to find cool stuff to report back on for TabletopJournal.
For those of you that haven’t attended, the show is split across two levels and exhibitors range from pest control services to marketing consultancies. In other words, it’s a real broad church and there’s lots to take in.
I began on the lower deck, where I found a friendly face in Frances Bull of Studio William, a specialist cutlery designer and manufacturer based in Stratford-upon-Avon. Frances was happy to talk me through their many products. And what products. Clearly, Studio William really gets tabletop. Its eponymous founder, William Welch, places emphasis on creating products that enhance and relate to the overall dining experience. Each item had its own story and felt perfect in my hand – nimble yet robust with a real sensory quality. They encourage innovation and collaboration: Frances tells me that they have just finished contributing to a series on spoons co-authored by Joseph Youssef and Charles Spence, while demonstrating their signature ‘textured spoons’ which are designed to emphasize texture and flavour. Fascinating stuff — definitely a producer to keep an eye on.
Exhibiting close to Studio William were Typhoon, who, their Sales Advisor told me, import Japanese stoneware goods to sell to Japanese restaurants across Britain. They began with a store in Covent Garden in the 70s and now have a large distribution complex in North London, so are clearly doing something right. Indeed, they had some elegant wares — dainty soba pots, pretty bowls and quirky serving platters and style-wise they are bang on trend; not just for Japanese restaurants but across the board.
Churchill would never lower themselves to anything so unbecoming as a trend, of course. But, this company with over 200 years of trading history, is responding to market movements with a number of today-relevant designs. Standing out from other exhibitors, both through prime front and centre location and with new product introductions, this tabletop leader showed why it sales and profits continue to increase year after year.
While Surrey Ceramics does not have quite the heritage as Churchill, they do go back as far as 1956. Their products remain slightly more loyal to classic British styles, and stand out in an exhibition that felt a little samey-samey at times. It was interesting to hear, too, that they offer complete customisation to their consumers, a helpful option to restaurants with a specific idea of what they are looking for.
Overall, we feel the Restaurant Show is missing some opportunity on the tabletop front. I found some interesting suppliers with great stories, but they were among the minority in an exhibition that generally failed to get across just how booming and innovative the tabletop scene is in Britain. That it is not to criticise the organisers; they simply offer a space and it is up to suppliers whether they wish to exhibit. But there did seem to be a clear divide between companies like Studio William — who live and breathe tabletop and gastronomy and want to keep moving things forward — and those that exist simply to make profit.
This was brought into sharp focus by a visit to Goodfellow and Goodfellow afterwards, who were holding an open day at their Baker Street ‘Plate Cave’. We’ve covered their work recently (so we are already influenced on their tabletop prowess) on these pages so I won’t go into detail about their credentials, but this is a company that truly understands its industry.
Their reach transverses the UK’s top kitchens; so much so that every plate in the showroom felt familiar. But they don’t do just do high-end, some of their plates hold up to IKEA’s price points. Their success lies in the flexibility of their range and brilliantly knowledgeable and insightful service. The fact that they eschewed the show and held their own event perhaps tells its own story.
Now, how can we help The Restaurant Show improve the visibility of our favorite category and give attendees a more complete view of the world of hospitality tabletop? Remember, #TabletopMatters.
– Isaac Parham
