The Restaurant Group and Giraffe to open restaurant at Heathrow's T2

The airside restaurant will be called Wondertree and will open for business with the launch of the new airport terminal, also known as The Queen's Terminal, in June 2014. 

TRG, which already operates 13 outlets at Heathrow under TRG Concessions, including two Giraffes, approached Giraffe to help it create the new concept after being tasked by Heathrow to come up with a new restaurant to fit the 5,000 sq ft space. 

Nick Ayerst, managing director, TRG Concessions said: "​When challenged by Heathrow to create an iconic restaurant for the new Terminal 2, we approached Russel Joffe to collaborate with us following our highly successful partnership with Giraffe in the airport. Wondertree embraces the new generation of eating and drinking and promises to provide a unique experience for Heathrow passengers.”

'Health-conscious'​

Wondertree, which has views out across the airfield, will be one of 67 retail, bar and restaurant units at Terminal 2 and will serve an 'accessible, health conscious menu for all ages'. 

Food will be cooked to order from an open plan kitchen with freshly-made breads and salads on offer alongside stacked sandwiches, flatbread pizzas and Giraffe's speciality 'global foods' such as Los Cabos Chicken Tacos. 

It will incorporate a self-service café and a more relaxed dining area as well as taking advantage of the latest technology, such as contactless payment and tablet menus and will be managed by the existing TRG Concessions team.

Joffe said he was pleased to be working with TRG again and 'bringing a totally new and fresh all-day dining concept' to the new terminal. 

"Wondertree will deliver high quality and great value dishes in a unique environment morning, noon and night – it was amazing to work with a clean slate and create something new," he said. 

Airport dining​

Heathrow's Terminal 2, which will be home to 23 Star Alliance airlines alongside Aer Lingus and Virgin Atlantic Little Red, is expected to serve 20 million passengers a year and see 55,000 arrive and depart daily when in full operation.  

Muriel-Zingraff Shariff, Heathrow’s retail director, said the appointment of MasterChef presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace earlier this year to review dining operations at the airport, had shown its commitment to improving passenger dining with this latest concept designed to meet passenger needs. 

"The dining experience is so important to our passengers and our challenge together with our restaurant partners is to deliver a menu that is designed for busy travellers, caters to an international audience and enhances their journey. Wondertree is a fantastic addition to Terminal 2, especially for families who we know need a broad menu and a relaxed atmosphere," she said. 

A spokesperson for TRG said there were currently no plans to roll the concept out elsewhere.