Takeaways will be cooked and delivered from the kitchens of London schools in a bid to help raise extra money for cash-strapped institutions.
School Kitchen was set up to give headteachers an opportunity to raise money from their catering facilities in the evenings and at weekends.
It launched seven different food brands at Carr Junior School in York, earlier this year and is in talks to open at schools in Oval and Kingston.
Founder David Nicholson has now also set up the company’s first restaurant in Chiswick.
Mexican, Sri Lankan and traditional British dishes from menus designed by celebrity chefs, including Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, Matt Tebbutt, and Richard Corrigan can be ordered from the new site at Quintin Hogg Memorial Grounds.
Last month chefs began working out of the Cricket Pavilion owned by Latymer Upper School, combining a dine-in restaurant with a takeaway service.
Mr Nicholson told the Standard: “We usually work with state schools and we share the revenue with them and we also do things like install solar panels to cover energy.
“When Latymer got in touch we weren’t sure about the partnership at first because it is an independent school, which is not what we usually work with. But in this case the money raised will be going to the Latymer Foundation to support its community education schemes and breakfast clubs.
“So we are very excited about our first venture in the capital.”
While the takeaways are listed on apps such as Deliveroo, staff are all paid the London living wage with no zero-hours contracts and all deliveries done by in-house staff.
Items on the menu include Nadiya Hussain’s Cardamom rice pudding and a fish pie from Mitch Tonks.
The launch event also featured a cooking demonstration by Omar Allibhoy, the Spanish chef behind Tapas Revolution and fellow contributor to the ‘School Dinners’ menu.
Mr Nicholson said he came up with the idea after becoming "disillusioned" with the large food companies and their growing reliance on "dark kitchens".
He added that he wanted to create a company that was “connected” to local communities.
School Kitchen also hopes to offer students cooking lessons and provide education to children on where their food comes from.
Mr Nicholson added: “Seeing the community come together to support our mission at the Chiswick launch has been incredibly heartwarming.
“We’re excited to offer a space where people can connect over food that does food, and we’re proud to be transforming kitchens into vibrant social hubs.”
