Home Kitchen is taking over the former site of Bryn Williams’ Odette’s, which announced its closure last month.
A fine dining restaurant staffed by homeless people with a kitchen led by executive chef Adam Simmonds is set to replace Bryn Williams’ Odette’s in London’s Primrose Hill.
Home Kitchen will recruit previously homeless staff and offer London Living Wage, travel expenses, and professional culinary qualifications provided by the Beyond Food Foundation.
Once new staff pass their 90-day probation, they will receive further training at Westminster Kingsway College.
The 16-strong team of initial recruits will be supported by Simmonds, as well as the head chef, general manager, assistant general manager and overarching leadership team, who have experience in both the charity and hospitality sectors.
Home Kitchen has been collaborating with Beam, Soup Kitchen London, Change Please, Beyond Food Foundation, and the Passage to start the hiring process.
Simmonds, who received his first Michelin star at Ynyshir Hall in Wales and his second at Danesfield House near Marlow, has designed a seven-course tasting menu for the launch of Home Kitchen.
The chef has been involved with the project for over two years; Home Kitchen was originally due to launch as a pop-up in Victoria following a £450,000 crowdfunding campaign.
Alexander Brown, one of the co-founders of Home Kitchen, revealed “promising negotiations are underway” to launch a second restaurant in Brighton and San Francisco following conversations with “potential backers”.
“The first step into this journey will be proving both the commercial and social impact of Home Kitchen Primrose Hill,” he said.
Simmonds added: “Home Kitchen will be an accelerant out of poverty for our recruits and an incubator of untapped talent for the catering industry. The restaurant business is an ideal vehicle for our social impact because if you can change perceptions in this world, then you can do it in any other walk of life.”
Posting the news on Instagram, Andrew Fishwick, founder and chief executive of investment company Hestia Hospitality, said: “Primrose Hill was chosen as the first site for a dining concept with a mission to scale to other cities with significant homeless communities – in the UK and internationally.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with this group of legends for the past 18 months in building and developing Home Kitchen – the social impact restaurant.”
All profits from Home Kitchen will be reinvested into expanding the social enterprise business across the UK and globally.