Benugo has announced that it will open a new restaurant set in the acclaimed Zaha Hadid-designed extension to the Serpentine’s North Gallery in London's Kensington.
The Magazine will open in June with Slovakian-born Chef Tomas Kolkus at the helm, and a contemporary menu that puts sustainability and seasonality at the heart of the kitchen, ensuring maximum taste and minimum waste.
Chef Tomas has worked alongside Cooking Sections on exciting new Climavore dishes; a form of eating that responds to human alterations of the planet’s climate while periods of polluted oceans, soil exhaustion, subsidence, and droughts become more prevalent.
This new menu features several dishes following the Climavore principles; farmed salmon has been removed from the menu, replaced by ingredients that have a regenerative effect on the planet, such as mussels that filter the water, herbs are from Growing Underground in Clapham where they are grown hydroponically, and seaweed features due to its high nutrition, oxygenating capacities and zero need for fertilisers or irrigation.
Shane Kavanagh, Commercial Director at Benugo, commented, 'We are thrilled to announce the opening of The Magazine. Working on this project with the Serpentine galleries has been a dream come true.
'We’ve learnt a phenomenal amount, and it’s encouraged us to ask some really interesting questions about how we produce and sell food across our industry.'
Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director, and Bettina Korek, Chief Executive, Serpentine, added, 'Platforming art and artists to have bigger roles in everyday life is a Serpentine philosophy we are always so proud to put into action, as we are here in our collaboration with Cooking Sections and Benugo on The Magazine.
'Just as Artist Placement Group installed artists in utilitarian societal contexts like factories and governments in the 1960s, our ambition is to contribute to innovation on Earth’s most pressing matters of the 21st century by creating new opportunities for dialogues and interventions led by artists.'
Open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 for breakfast, then lunch and early dinner, guests will be able to order from a range of small and large plates such as Wye Valley Asparagus with Miso Aioli; Rope-Grown Mussels with Urfa and Rock Samphire; Slow-Roasted Cauliflower with Chickpea Stew, Dulse & Sea Buckthorn; Agar Panna Cotta with Elderberry Syrup & Blackberries; and a Vegan Chocolate Mousse.
The breakfast menu boasts pastries straight out of the oven; Buckwheat Porridge with a Seasonal Fruit Compote; and Shakshuka.
Some exciting organic and biodynamic wines are offered by the tap by Uncharted Wines, ensuring the wine not only stays fresher but has a significant environmental benefit – the only packaging is a recycled keg which is completely recyclable and crushable by hand.
Even the menu has a story – it’s printed on 100% recycled paper made with grass fibres at Frogmore Mill in Hemel Hempstead, on the world's first mechanised paper-making machine dating back to 1895, and still in use today.
Plates and tea & coffee cups are made by Costa Nova and all produced with respect for nature – reusable and recyclable. Plates are made of Eco Gres, a proprietary clay, composed of recycled materials and completely sustainable. Tea & coffee cups are Plano, the first recycled collection by Costa Nova.