Kraft Dalston has only ever been open for five days. Having welcomed customers through its doors for the first time on 11 December, the Kingsland High Street business could not even make it through a week before it was forced to stop operating under London’s Tier 4 restrictions.
Now, like other restaurants and bars in Hackney, it must wait until 17 May to reopen as it has no outdoor dining facilities.
Yet despite the circumstances – which also include most of the staff being ineligible for the furlough scheme due to being newly hired – the team behind Kraft Dalston are “super optimistic”.
Credit – Felix Bollen
“We can’t wait to see Kraft Dalston in full swing,” says Felix Bollen, director of the business, which houses a microbrewery, gin distillery, coffee shop and modern kebab restaurant.
He describes the team as “excited for the summer”.
“Until then, we are planning to reopen our ‘kraft booze window’ to engage with the locals and offer them a taste of what’s to come,” Bollen says. “We’ve also just started a deliveroo service mainly focusing on our amazing Turkish fusion cuisine and some guest beers.”
“But it’s not the same as offering our tank-fresh draught beer which we produce on site,” he adds.
When asked how Kraft Dalston has managed financially during this elongated period of lockdown, Bollen remains sunny in his outlook. Acknowledging that most of the staff were not able to claim furlough, he attributes their “luck”’ to “having such great partners – Locke hotels”.
“They helped us in keeping fixed costs to a minimum at Kraft Dalston,” he concludes. “Also, this is our third venture within London, and we managed to save up some money in between the lockdowns to survive through this tough, dry season.”
