Lunch is for wimps, right? Who are you kidding? Lunch has come right back into fashion as companies realise that a well-fed workforce is a happy workforce.
Now cost consultant EC Harris has even banned desk-munching, and other companies are setting up their own canteens to encourage employees to take a break. But is the tuck any good? Eleanor Harding reviews five of construction鈥檚 best staff canteens and doles out the prestigious 好色先生TV Top Banana Awards
Best for posh ingredients
A public convenience
When Allies and Morrison moved to its studio in Southwark, south London, it got round the fact that there weren鈥檛 many places to eat nearby by opening its own public cafe on the ground floor. Designed by an in-house team, the cafe has simple wooden tables, benches and an open kitchen. Paul Appleton, a partner in the practice, says: 鈥淩ather than it winning architecture awards, we were more interested in it winning food awards鈥� 鈥� which it did, with Time Out magazine鈥檚 Best Cheap Eats Award last year.
Its menu ranges from burgers to grilled sea bass, and it prefers to use small and trusted suppliers, sharing some contacts with nearby Borough food market. Now more of its customers come from outside the company than inside. 鈥淚t鈥檚 better to set it up as a proper restaurant or cafe because you constantly challenge those standards and you are judged by people who have no connection with you,鈥� says Appleton.
Treat yourself to: Chargrilled burger with mozzarella and vine-ripened tomatoes (拢7.70 but staff get a 35% discount)
Best themed meal
Where meatball meets football
The Anglo-Swedish contractor鈥檚 eaterie served up themed meals of English fish 鈥榥鈥� chips and Swedish meatballs when the two countries met during the World Cup last June.
Chris Smith, a graphic designer at the company, says it鈥檚 the best office cafe he has ever eaten in. 鈥淚 use it as a means of chatting with people I don鈥檛 get to see,鈥� he says.
Treat yourself to: Full roast dinner including meat, stuffing and three veg (拢2.65)
Best for drinks
Served by the boss
The cost consultant has built a plush cafe as well as stylish eating areas on each floor as part of its move from Tavistock Square to a new office in King鈥檚 Cross last December. The cafe is a modern glassy affair offering a wide range of food. But even better than that, a free bar operates three times a week from 5pm to 8pm, where chief executive Philip Youell and other senior staff serve their employees as a gesture of thanks.
Treat yourself to: Pan-fried rump steak baguette with caramelised onion and fresh horseradish (拢2.85)
Best designer food
Food as art
Martin Cook, design director at BDP, gives rave reviews to the cafe at the architect鈥檚 office in Clerkenwell, north London. 鈥淚t鈥檚 terrific,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like being in a gallery.鈥� He uses the cafe for design meetings as well as meals, but is glad BDP has not imposed a compulsory lunch hour as EC Harris has. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 always take a lunch break, as a lot of us are on the move,鈥� he says.
Treat yourself to: Beef curry served with braised rice, naan bread and mango chutney (拢3.30)
Best international food
Around the world on a plate
Studio Egret West knows how to make the most of having a cosmopolitan staff. 鈥淲hen we started at our new studio, we said 鈥榥ever another sandwich again鈥�,鈥� says partner David West. 鈥淎nd because we have such an international studio, we have the most extraordinary culinary delights.鈥�
Meals are freshly cooked by a different employee every day. The staff have been treated to dumplings with sheep鈥檚 cheese 鈥� the Slovak national dish 鈥� as well as fresh Italian pasta and sushi. 鈥淲e take our work very seriously,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 really important to eat during the day and it fuels conversation. It builds a very strong team.鈥�
Treat yourself to: Dumplings with sheep cheese and other home-cooked treats (拢3.50)
Sound bites
Staff need a proper break
鈥淚 always take a lunch break and I normally wander down to our new canteen. Or sometimes I might pop out, pick up something and eat it in the eating areas we鈥檝e got on each floor. I鈥檒l join a member of staff or another partner for a chat.
鈥淥ur policy is to not eat at desks, because the whole ethos of our building is to get people to work together. If you can get people to come together socially in their everyday work and at lunchtime, they tend to share their knowledge. You also become more productive if you take a break, rather than just ploughing on.
鈥淎ll of this is working really well. The partners have now got to know more people because of the things that we鈥檝e done in the office. We鈥檝e created a design for people to go and meet with others.鈥�
Philip Youell, chief executive, EC Harris
Let people eat where they like
鈥淨uite often, my lunchtime doesn鈥檛 exist. I鈥檓 at meetings, at my desk or having business lunches. I don鈥檛 mind working though lunch because I enjoy what I鈥檓 doing. When I鈥檓 in the office, I like to eat sandwiches and fruit. Wherever possible, we try to encourage our people to take a proper lunch hour. But the advantage of being able to eat where you like is flexibility.
鈥淎t Davis Langdon, people who want to work through their lunch in order to leave early can do so. If they want to have a sandwich and continue what they鈥檙e doing because they want to get home to see their kids or get to a sports event or to the theatre, they can.
鈥淔or some people their desk and their workplace is absolutely their sacred space. It takes all sorts of environments to create one that encourages the enthusiasm and creativity we鈥檙e looking for. That鈥檚 why the regimented approach of 鈥測ou will do this, you won鈥檛 do that鈥� is not what we鈥檙e about. We want to avoid rules and regulations that make us seem more corporate than we already are.鈥�
Rob Smith, senior partner, Davis Langdon
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