The BaxterStorey team running Mitsubishi Corporation’s coffee house and kitchen, Circus, has been rewarded for their exceptional food and drink offering and customer service by being crowned ‘Contract Catering Cafe of the Year’ at the Quality Food Awards.
Oana Podaru, General Manager, and Clifford Bayley, Head Chef, attended the gala dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, and accepted the Award on behalf of their team.
Daniel Stewart, BaxterStorey’s London Operations Manager, commented, “I could not be more proud of our team at Mitsubishi. It’s not only been rewarding to see Oana and Cliff build their team, develop the service by carefully and studiously listening and understanding their customers and clients, but it’s been particularly sweetened by having known Oana throughout her 10 years with BaxterStorey. Watching and supporting her development has been an absolute pleasure.”
The contemporary cafe, which seats 52, is located towards the top of MidCity Place in Holborn. The Circus concept was devised by BaxterStorey following a decision to create a dedicated restaurant space where staff at the London office, and their guests, could meet and discuss business in a welcoming and relaxing environment.
Podaru and Bayley have surrounded themselves with a team that understands their vision to provide high quality, forward-thinking dishes using ingredients sourced from local suppliers. Oana and Clifford are advocates for independent, artisan suppliers, in particular, who they feel are as passionate about great food and sustainability as they are.
As well as running the busy café, the team creates bespoke menus for meetings and events held throughout the day and in the evening.
Equally as important as the food and drink offering is providing the best possible service for their loyal customer base. The team continually adjusts their food offer to reflect their customers’ preferences. For example, introducing authentic Japanese recipes following successful tastings and encouraging customers to bring in their own recipes for Clifford to recreate.
They also actively encourage feedback and use a ‘You said, we did’ board to show customers that they have listened and acted on this.
