Although Benugo has joined the WSH Group, home of contract caterer BaxterStorey, anyone fearing any loss of individuality can rest easy.
A chance meeting with Benugo co-founder Hugo Warner at the company’s restaurant at the BFI’s National Film Theatre on the South Bank in London left me in no doubt that Benugo would continue to do what it does without compromise.
Warner’s certainly not planning to put his feet up anytime soon and clearly loves the buzz of operating at locations, such as the BFI, without any client subsidy, essentially living or dying by the operation’s success at getting bums on seats and wallets open.
What’s the Benugo formula? Well, there’s certainly plenty of personality on show in the choice of fixtures, fittings and furnishings at the BFI site. There’s also an evident quality (despite a tiny kitchen) to the food and how it’s served.
But maybe that extra special ingredient is an all too rare one in business: a sense of humour.
I was tickled pink to discover that if peckish at the bar you can order a pint glass of sausage rolls (scotch eggs were apparently tried but didn’t fit).
Certainly not something you’d find available at Gordon Ramsay’s Foxtrot Oscar.
