The winning team received an engraved pan and as a part of their prize the Japanese izakaya food concept will be rolled out across Lexington’s customer sites. Kana Kana was ‘brought to life’ by chef Mike Carter and his team following memories of his travels in Japan.
Traditional dishes such as okonomiyaki were twisted and skewered, embracing western ‘on-the-go’ style food. Lexington Catering says that flavour was front and centre, backed with a colourful, exciting and vibrant brand.
Now in its fourth year, Lexington’s Casual Dining competition brings together teams from across the business & industry brand, tasking them with curating a brand-new casual dining concept from scratch. A total of 26 Lexington teams submitted written entries.
From these 12 teams were shortlisted to present their concepts directly to the round one judging panel. Following the showcase, seven teams were selected to progress to the final, which was held at OKN1 a collaborative kitchen dining venue located within New City College in Hackney.
Two hundred clients and guests attended the finals and sampled food concepts developed by the finalists, voting for their favourite brand concept, which accounted for 25% of the final voting score.
Matt Wood, managing director of Lexington, said: “This year’s competition was yet another incredible showcase of the talented and creative minds we have here at Lexington. I am always blown away by the all-round quality and seeing the evolution of these concepts come to life.
“Now in our fourth year of the competition, 20 concepts initiated from this event have been introduced to our Lexington sites. Customers and clients love it, as do we. Getting to showcase our homegrown talent on such a stage is humbling and gratifying.
“I hope this gives our teams the well-deserved recognition they work so hard to achieve. The standards are so high that any one of these concepts would sell by the bucket load at any London food market.”
The other six finalists created original, diverse concepts ranging from an allergen-free take on traditional chicken shop favourites, authentic Filipino cuisine and Korean street food.