FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Food

This Chef Is Bringing Communal Italian Dining to a London Car Park

“Without sounding like a total wanker, food breaks down social barriers,” says Bash Redford, founder of ForzaWin, a shared dining restaurant known for wood-roasted meats and communal tables.
All photos by the author.

I am standing in a warehouse in Peckham, up to my elbows in ink, pulling what looks like a scrotum full of rice pudding out of an octopus' head.

I have come to spend the afternoon at ForzaWin, a shared dining restaurant in a London car park, opposite a boxing gym, that serves Italian food cooked over wood. It produces less waste in a week than most restaurants make in a night.

READ MORE: The UK's First Zero-Waste Restaurant Puts Trash First

Advertisement

"The way we approach the menu is all down to the idea that wasting food is horrible and achieves nothing," says ForzaWin founder Bash Redford. "We keep the menu for an entire season so the only changes we make are when there are variations in what's available from the farms. We order according to the number of tickets sold, we don't buy food on spec, which means we don't have to throw away loads of unused stock."

forzawin-octopus-italian

This way of buying isn't the only reason that ForzaWin produces so little rubbish (the waste collection service actually rang Redford up to see what was wrong because he was throwing so little away). They are also extremely clever with what they can't directly sell.

"All the carcasses and bones are used to make stock," says Redford as I slice yet another sack of mysterious inky fluid out of the giant condom that is an edible octopus. "All of the vegetable peelings go on the compost heap in my garden, the garlic bread we serve is the leftover buns from the chicken van we've got, and pretty much all the lemon rind we produce in the restaurant is used to make limoncello. You have to be a little bit careful though because it's like fucking moonshine."

bash-redford-forzawin

ForzaWin is more than just a restaurant. In fact, it's the beginning of an empire. On Wednesdays you can get a bowl of pasta and glass of wine for a tenner, and Thursday to Saturday is the traditional Italian sharing meal, served with three wines literally differentiated as "good," "better," "best." Cheery Mealz is the team's food van, serving happy meals for grown up mouths—a pollo frito burger in a soft ciabatta roll with creamed salsa verde over the top, rosemary fries, and a boozy milkshake. It even comes in a little paper bag with a badge.

Advertisement

At the beginning of every day, Redford sits down with the staff for a big shared lunch. It was something he learned as a 14-year-old kitchen porter, working at Danilos in Greater Manchester. Whoever you are and whatever your job, you deserve to eat.

forzawin-pasta-dish

As I'm munching through my bowl of pasta, a man wanders through the giant garage-like doors. "Any of you people smoke?" he asks. "Anybody want to buy a watch?" I don't, but it certainly speaks to ForzaWin's welcoming atmosphere that a modern-day spiv feels happy walking in with a vacuum-packed stack of lighters under his coat.

"Without sounding like a total wanker, food breaks down social barriers," says Redford, as we start to clear out the giant fire pit over which he roasts most of his menu. "I grew up in a hotel. So I would eat breakfast every morning with people from all walks of life. One day I'd be sitting next to a tree surgeon, the next day a Mexican cereal maker, and the day after that I'd be eating toast with Lord Hogginbottom."

peckham-forzawin-italian

ForzaWin's long wooden tables and easy-to-share sides all but force you to talk to the people at your elbows. No wonder so many couples have got together there.

Roasting lamb, chicken, octopus, and vegetables over ash, pear, and birch logs doesn't just give Redford's food an authentic smokey flavour; it also means that I can spend half a glorious hour on a sunny Thursday afternoon splitting logs with a giant fuck off axe. I love it.

Advertisement

READ MORE: These Danish Chefs Just Made Italian Pizza Even Better

On the other side of the room, a little huddle of school girls stand on chairs to watch one of the ForzaMen make fresh pasta. Redford's best friend and business partner Archie stands over an upturned crate covered in sticky bits of paper as he cuts out stencils for the new staff uniforms. My freshly sliced octopus head bobs in a tub full of lemon, chilli, rosemary, and brine by the fire, and music washes out of a nearby laptop as one of the cooks greets an old friend at the door.

forzawin-italian-london

"What I wanted this place to be is a safe space for everyone in the community," says Redford, an ash-covered spade in one hand and plump tomato in the other. "Somewhere people won't be judged and can eat good food that's sourced in the right way."

And there's nothing rubbish about that.

This post originally appeared on MUNCHIES in June 2015.