Restaurants

Grand designs: There's not a crumb-strewn sofa in sight at Designers Guild

Designers Guild
The White Room
Internationally renowned for its stylish fabrics, linens and other homewares (which you can see in their King’s Road shwroom, Heal’s, and all the best department stores), Designers Guild is based on a light industrial estate near Latimer Road in west London – something of a rose among thorns. Two people share the job of head chef, with one full-time assistant, all directly employed by Designers Guild.

What’s it like? A pared-back version of The River Café, with lots of cool white and occasional blasts of bright colour. Everything is neat, chic, fresh and feminine. Food is beautifully displayed in white bowls on a stainless steel counter and served by black-clad chefs. The restaurant accommodates 80-100 diners, who can sit on butterfly chairs at large metal tables for six, smaller green round tables, or on tall stools at a small counter. A large window opens out on to a courtyard with parasoled tables for eating outdoors in good weather.
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If everything seems to have the Designers Guild stamp on it, it’s because Tricia Guild is a hands-on company director, deeply involved with planning the menus and sourcing the ingredients.

Menu ‘Fresh, seasonal modern British with nods to Italian and Asian, which varies every day but is healthy, low fat, and organic and free range where possible,’ says the PR manager. ‘With naughty puddings.’ Each day there is a hot main course (around £3), which will be vegetarian on Tuesdays and fish on Fridays. Alternatively, freshly made soup (£1.20), salads (£1-£1.50), jacket potatoes (£1 plus 50p for each filling) and sandwiches (£2) are available. Cheeses come from Neal’s Yard Dairy, breads from the Exeter Street Bakery owned by Guild’s husband, restaurateur Richard Pollo.Most popular dish Moroccan lamb tagine with prunes and cinnamon, marinated for 24 hours, then cooked for three and served with couscous. The salmon and coley fishcakes are also a big favourite.

The staff verdict ‘Lunch is the best part of the day,’ says Ciara, a personal assistant who has been with Designers Guild for four years. ‘Today I had the main course of baked dorade (gilthead bream) with capers and white wine, which always comes with really good vegetables or a side salad. The soups are very good too, and it’s really hard not to do dessert, which is on display from about 11.30am. It was a big chocolate cake yesterday. There’s absolutely nothing inspiring around this area and, once you’ve had lunch subsidised the way we do, you tend to feel everywhere else is expensive. We’re a little bit spoiled, but I think it’s good for the company too, because it means we get back to our desks quickly.’

Jenni’s verdict Nourishing with a discerning gourmet edge. A meal here feels virtuous, but not worthy.

With the Christmas feasting over it’s back to lunches of sarnies and cardboard-flavoured wraps for most of us . But some London office workers are enjoying top-class catering, themed days and Mongolian barbecues, all at subsidised prices. We sent Jenni Muir to review three of the capital’s best staff canteens. Just don’t all hand your notice in at once.