Cafe and catering group Benugo have won the competitive tender for a five-year catering contract at the Wellcome Collection, the London Museum and exhibition venue of global charity the Wellcome Trust.
Wellcome Collection will be the 14th concession within a museum or public space operated by Benugo, and follows recent contracts with Great Court Restaurant at The British Museum opening in January 2014, and at other notable sites such as The V&A Museum, Westminster Abbey and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Benugo have been assigned to create two distinct food offerings that will appeal to the diverse range of visitors walking through the doors: The Wellcome Café opening December 2013 (above) and a yet unnamed restaurant, which will open in June 2014.
The new dining concepts at the Wellcome Collection have been developed by the Benugo team, led by founder Ben Warner and managing director Guy Kellner. Collectively, Benugo are overseeing a major refurbishment of this prominent landmark site, allowing for the overall style of the restaurant and café to be relaxed and welcoming for visitors, families and locals, who can enjoy quality refreshment both from the deli counter in the café, and from the open kitchen in the restaurant.
The Wellcome Café will serve a simple selection of seasonally led food from sandwiches, salads, wraps to freshly baked cakes and pastries, which customers can choose to eat in or grab and go.
The restaurant will feature a daily changing menu of seasonal rustic food from salads and fish dishes at lunch, to sharing plates for light afternoon snacks. There will also be a small kids’ menu selling great nutritious food such as British organic pork sausages and mash with a drink and a scoop of ice cream for dessert.
The restaurant will also incorporate an ‘Entrance Bar’ serving coffees, soft drinks and wines where there will be a small seated area for those waiting for a table for lunch. This will help to make the restaurant feel an integrated part of the space, adding buzz and atmosphere.
The menus at the Wellcome Collection will be overseen by Head Chef Jason Wass. Previously, Chef Wass held the position as Head Chef at the 100-cover Pissarro Restaurant in Chiswick, creating a menu that celebrated high quality locally sourced food – an ethos that is very much celebrated at Benugo. Before working at Pissarro in 2011, he was the Executive Sous Chef at the Movenpick Hotel, Jumeirah Beach (2009-2011) as well as the role of Sous Chef at Verre and Glasshouse by Gordon Ramsay, at Hilton Dubai Creek (2008-2009).