UNITED KINGDOM: The Urban Farm Supplying London's Top Restaurants
CATHERINE HANLY
18 AUGUST 2022
Tucked away in an industrial estate by the railway in Kentish Town are two unassuming shipping containers. From the outside, you'd never guess that this 40ft long space is packed floor to ceiling growing the freshest salad you'll find inside the M25. And it's from container farms like this that London's best restaurants are being supplied with zero food miles lettuce that would please the most stringent sustainbility criteria.
We're here to get a guided tour by Crate to Plate's CEO Sebastien Sainsbury (and yes, he is related to that family). As he explains, the veg is grown using aeroponics. In brief, that means the vertical farms don't use any soil and minimal water to grow their crops - and technology is evolving all the time to refine the process. Even the transport of salad to London's restaurants has a zero carbon footprint as they use their own electric vehicles to do the drops around town.
The roots get a 5 minute misting every 30 minutes during the day and that's it.
As for what they grow, there's everything from pak choi and wasabi rocket to shiso and red oak lettuce on offer. You can buy online from their website but it's much more fun to head to one of the restaurants that use their amazing greens - the key ones we've listed here.
Where to eat London Lettuce
Apricity - Chantelle Nicholson's sustainable Mayfair restaurant had the critics (and Hot Dinners) salivating over her salad dish in particular. This is London red butterhead lettuce salad with miso aioli, sunflower seeds and crispy kale.
HIDE - Ollie Dabbous's Mayfair restaurant Hide was one of Crate to Plate's first big-name clients. There's always a London lettuce on the menu with crème fraîche, & elderflower vinegar dressing but you'll also find their produce in seasonal dishes too. The above is a potted shrimp tartlet with pea shoots, wild garlic capers, pickled cucumber and nasturtium emulsion.
M Restaurants. Perfect as an accompaniment to their excellent steaks this is the Crate to Plate salad with mixed leaves, confit tomatoes, cucumber, pickled shallots, avocado and blood orange vinaigrette.
The Colony Grill Room at The Beaumont. The new menu at The Beaumont's restaurant features a very special Caesar salad which is brought to your table whole and then dressed tableside. This is Caesar Salad with romaine lettuce, white anchovies and 24-month parmesan
More about Crate to Plate
Find out more: Visit their website or follow them on Instagram @cratetoplate.farm