InSpiral Lounge

Coordinates: 51°32′29″N 0°8′47″W / 51.54139°N 0.14639°W

The inSpiral Lounge and Walkers Quay in Camden Lock
Map showing the location of The inSpiral Lounge in London.

The inSpiral Lounge is the trading name of Ekopia Ltd, a vegetarian restaurant, cafe and events venue in Camden Lock, Camden, London, England, overlooking the Regent's Canal and Camden Market.[1]

History

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The inSpiral Lounge was founded by Dominik Schnell, plus a team of investors, and opened on 16 December 2007. Since day one the organisation has had clear policies on nutrition, environment, music and art. It aims to promote mindful choices and community spirit.

In the evening the tables fold away and the venue hosts performances and poetry along with DJs known in ambient electronica circles.[2] The venue also regularly hosts displays and exhibitions of artwork from local artists. The premises is shared with Walkers Quay, which organises regular boat trips and dinners along the Regent's Canal to Little Venice.

inSpiral lounge evolved from a previous organization, IDSpiral, which ran an organic cafe and a replenishing chill out area, complete with nature inspired sculptures, at festivals such as Glastonbury and The Glade.[2]

Food and drink

The menu is vegetarian, but also serves vegan cuisine and includes a raw bar.[3] Where possible, food is organic, natural, seasonal and locally sourced. Food includes use of superfoods such as maca, mesquite, purple corn, agave and yacon syrup, acai and goji berries which are also sold in store. The inSpiral Lounge also runs its own bakery, online shop and wholesale business selling raw chocolate, cakes, raw food, ambient and electronic music CDs.[4]

inSpiral also run a 100% organic bar with organic beer on tap, with a full range of organic wines and spirits. The restaurant serves a range of organic cocktails and was among the first establishments in London to provide such an offering.[5] They also serve a variety of fresh juices, teas, coffee and chai with the option of soya milk or rice milk along with vegan ice cream alternatives in the Summer.

Music

The venue has a built in DJ booth and hosts live music with open mic nights and notable DJs and performances by artists such as Gaudi, Dreadzone Sound System, Banco de Gaia, Dr. Alex Patterson from The Orb, Ott, System 7, Eat Static, Astralasia, Mixmaster Morris, Matt Black from Coldcut and The Dub Pistols.[6]

Festivals and outdoor catering

The inSpiral Lounge has provided catering, music stages and cafes at several notable events and festivals including The Glade Festival, Glastonbury Festival, Festival of Life, Camden Green Fair, Secret Garden Party amongst others.

Awards

In 2009 it won the Archant Food and Drink Awards for the best Theme restaurant and best Take-out in London.[7] It was also voted one of the top ten vegetarian restaurants in 2009 by the Vegetarian Society and was nominated as Finalist in the Archant Environmental Awards as the most environmental small business category.

Capital Growth roof garden

The inSpiral Lounge is involved with London's Capital Growth Project, an initiative run in partnership with the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, London Food Link and the Big Lottery's Local Food Fund aiming to create 2012 new community food growing spaces across London by the end of 2012.[8] inSpiral is growing space number 93 and is in the process of building a roof garden where food for the restaurant can be grown locally rather than flown in from abroad.[9] Further to the involvement with Capital Growth, in March 2009 The inSpiral Lounge approached Boris Johnson and Camden Council directly, requesting the use of land near Hawley Wharf for development into a growing space. The request was turned down by the owner, a large Brewery and the land next to Hawley Wharf remains a derelict eyesore to this day.[10]

See also

References

External links