With the 252-bedroom Aloft London Excel set to open next year, Elior came up with the concept of the FEDE restaurant, which is open now, providing ‘cool, urban-influenced design and food’, available from breakfast into late evening.
FEDE restaurant
“We’ve created a restaurant, bar and grill to serve hotel guests and give visitors to ExCel an enjoyable space to meet, eat, drink and relax,” said Ruth Lomax, sales director at Elior UK. The venue will also be an ideal bolthole to local residents and business people from Canary Wharf, City Airport and further afield.”
Phil Dowson, chief financial officer for Aloft London Excel hotel, added: “We chose Elior as we needed a professional and flexible caterer that offers the versatility to meet not only the style of the hotel but the varied profile of our guests.
“Elior came up with the concept of FEDE – offering great value contemporary British cuisine that reflects the unique nature of the Aloft hotel and our visitors. The restaurant has been fitted out to a high specification with a stunning terrace overlooking the dock and has received extremely positive feedback since opening.
The FEDE menu has a heavy focus on locally sourced produce and comprises of breakfast, soups and small plates, large plates and grills, sides and deli sandwiches as well as sharing platters. To complement the food offer, there is an extensive drinks menu featuring world wines and beers, soft drinks, coffee and spirits.
Contract caterer-hotel partnerships
The deal is the latest in an growing trend of contract catering companies partnering with hotels. Just last month, Sodexo Prestige moved into the hotel sector for the first time to run the restaurant, bar and room service at the Montcalm on London's Park Lane.
And in July, pop-up restaurant and events management specialist Pure went into partnership with the Royal York hotel in Brighton to manage all its food and beverage operations.