Brother Marcus - TAG Catering Equipment UK Ltd

The Brief

The clients wanted to create a space that would be just as at home serving their famous brunch as well as evening meals and new sharing plates.

The key parts of the brief included:

Optimising the small back-of-house space to create a preparation kitchen
Provide a space-efficient bar that would serve anything from flat whites to cocktails
Deliver a high calibre design within their tight budget
Create a more mature restaurant experience with a sense of theatre
Utilise existing restaurant infrastructure, wherever possible
Re-use existing catering equipment where possible

Services

Kitchen Installation

Location

Spitalfields, London

Sector

Restaurants

Awards

ceda Grand Prix Awards 2020 – Design Project £50K to £200K Winner

About Brother Marcus

Brother Marcus is a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant with existing locations in Angel and Balham, London. By their own confession, it was time to “grow up” and open their largest restaurant to date. The chosen location was Spitalfields Market, London.

Founded by three twentysomething friends, it is said when they opened their first café in Balham on such a small budget, they made their own furniture and argued over buying another box of screws. Fast-forward to 2019 and the founders were ready to take the next step, but with no investment, it would be a budget-conscious move.

CEDA GPA Design Project 50k - 200k Winner 2020 - Brother Marcus

The Solution

We were able to reduce the pass height by over 300mm to counter level so that there was no visual barrier to the front-of-house kitchen and bespoke Charvet cooking suite. Meaning all cooking is now visible to diners for a true theatre experience, not just the Chef’s head.

An inset pizza oven is a central focal point of the space. We proposed the concept of a high-level seating area to create a chef’s table experience. All cooking would be done front-of-house, by using the existing Charvet wall cook suite that was refurbished and adapted in-house by TAG.

A multi-function bar was uniquely designed with 20-degree inset bottle holders increasing storage by up to 100% and helping speed up service.

The outside coffee bar and salad counter were designed to capitalise on the passing public and market visitors for a further revenue stream. The outside space has its own water, waste, and power supply. Can be used in the market itself, as it’s designed to be dismantled and moved if required. Adding total flexibility and versatility to the Brother Marcus offering in the Spitalfields environment.

The Outcome

The installation was completed on time and to budget with members of the our team invited to the soft opening a week before the full opening, such was the good relationship we had developed over the project with the client.

The restaurant industry in London is notoriously challenging, with increasing costs and competition, particularly in the casual dining arena. It was a big responsibility for us to work with Brother Marcus and help expand their number of locations at a time when closures are commonplace.

Brother Marcus with a unique space, to stand out from the competition and help elevate their food offering to an immersive experience. We also managed to incorporate ideas for further revenue streams, such as the independent coffee and salad bar. From the central pizza oven and chef’s table to small details such as lowering the pass, the overall aesthetic design also makes this project award-winning, and it is a great showcase of our versatilityy.

We achieved everything Brother Marcus set out in the brief and more, without any compromises; Brother Marcus isn’t growing up; they have grown up!

The opening of the Spitalfields restaurant was a real leap of faith for Brother Marcus. It was exciting, ambitious and daunting taking on such a large space compared to our previous locations.

We set TAG quite an interesting brief to create a one-of-a-kind dining experience, on a modest budget, re-using equipment and the existing site layout where possible, but also keeping the ethos of Brother Marcus at its heart.

TAG responded extremely well, we could not be happier with the design, and flexibility they showed to help us achieve the final result. Their wealth of ideas and small details such as the chef’s table in front of the pizza oven has made a real difference to the experience and didn’t impact the budget.

Tas Gaitanos, Brother Marcus / Founder