DINING
Create, Curate, Incubate An innovative new wine bar and incubator kitchen in London is reimagining the way that F&B projects are rolled out across global hotel portfolios. Words: Shanna McGoldrick • Photography: © Haydon Perrior
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he once-revolutionary restaurant pop-up
Development at Ennismore. “Everything we do has to be
formula has become almost unremarkably
more thoughtful and researched than that.”
ubiquitous in recent years. But while the
Rondo La Cave’s incubator kitchen provides Ennismore
idea of transplanting culinary concepts
with the opportunity to fully fine-tune each culinary
indiscriminately from one market to
brand before launching it in its permanent home, from
another might no longer be considered
honing the recipes to getting the social media accounts
groundbreaking, hotel groups are proving that, with some
up and running. “This is a space that we can use to test
modification, the model can still be used to drive change.
them out in the real world,” explains Pearson. “People
Take, for example, Rondo La Cave. The easygoing
come to dine here and give us feedback, then we’re able
new basement bar located under The Hoxton Holborn’s
to tweak the menu accordingly; it gives us a space where
Rondo restaurant features stripped-back interiors and
we can really work on developing a concept before it is
the odd standing table, and has positioned itself as a
launched in the big wide world.”
natural wine bar and store that focuses on local produce
Since diners in London reap the benefits of having
and stocks low-intervention bottles from independent
a rotating roster of exciting chefs hungry for their
suppliers. But it also functions as an incubator kitchen,
support on their doorstep, the business model is doubly
playing host to revolving chef residencies that will see
advantageous. “This approach easier to do it in one
both rising stars and established names work with the
location, and also creates hype for The Hoxton Holborn,”
in-house team to develop a diverse variety of culinary
says Pearson. “It gives people a reason to keep coming
concepts. These eateries will then launch as permanent
back; it’s really great for our brand.”
installations elsewhere within the Ennismore collective,
The venue opened its doors in September 2021, and
which spans 14 hotel and co-working brands, comprising
the first chef to set up shop was the British culinary star
87 properties and counting.
Adam Rawson, formerly of London hotspots Pachamama
“We have a bank of restaurants that are very successful,
and The Standard. Rawson’s La Cave debut took the
but we don’t want to be cookie-cutter in rolling them
shape of Cantina Valentina, which saw him serving up
all out,” says Julia Pearson, Vice President of F&B
Peruvian-inspired dishes that drew extensively on his
