Our Innovation Kitchen

The Pembury Kitchen is the creative heartbeat of Belazu. It’s where recipes are invented, adapted and tested before they go on to be our innovative Mediterranean ingredients. It’s also a social space, where we host inspiration days, client visits and even the occasional supper club.

The Pembury Kitchen is largely the domain of Belazu’s resident innovation chef, Henry Russell. Henry found his appetite for cooking at a young age; as he was growing up he used to spend hours in the kitchen with his mum learning about the traditional art of home cooking.

Henry honed his cooking techniques in a gastro pub serving hearty British classics before moving to work with Claude Bosi at his Michelin-starred restaurant, Hibiscus.

He soon realised that he wanted a little more freedom to explore his own approach and ways of creating great dishes.

In 2013, after a short stint as a freelancer and private chef, Henry began working at Moro which specialises in North African and Spanish cuisine. After a year there, he was appointed as the head chef at it’s sister restaurant, Morito.

The Pembury Kitchen: the home of innovation

Named for the Hackney housing estate where co-founders George and Adam shared a flat in the early 1990s, at the time Belazu (then trading as the Fresh Olive Company) was formed, the Pembury Kitchen was always an ambition in and of itself.

As George says, “We always wanted an open plan space that encouraged both creativity and the social aspect. We love to have people over to cook or eat with us.”

The Pembury Kitchen is a top spec professional kitchen that doubles as an ‘urban chic’ social space, with a full bar, espresso machine and a cookbook library.

We hold regular innovation for clients who desire Henry’s creative influence, and also love to host cooking sessions with guest chefs.

Since the Pembury opened in September 2015, we’ve enjoyed hosting chefs like Jeremy Ford, Ramael Scully, Tam Storrar, Sabrina Ghayour and Pizza Pilgrims for photo and video shoots, chef training days and testing out new recipes.

The Pembury Kitchen has a convivial creative atmosphere that works for all sorts of occasions. Whether conceptualisation, development, trial and testing or even just a good old informal business catch up, the Pembury Kitchen is the place to be.

If you’re a chef or trade customer like to cook, film, eat or be inspired by The Pembury Kitchen, please get in touch.

To find out more about Belazu events click here.