Midlands Arts Centre (MAC) is launching a brand new café and restaurant, KILN, on Monday 24th May 2021, situated in the heart of one of the U.K.’s most popular art venues.
KILN promises a unique dining experience, from breakfast and brunch though to lunch and dinner, with special culinary events planned for the autumn.
During MAC’s closure, their café has been fully refurbished, influenced by valuable feedback from loyal customers, with improvements to the menu, service and facilities. This renovation is part of a large-scale capital project, Making MAC More, which began in 2018. As one of the last phases of the capital project, KILN is supported by Arts Council England and the People’s Postcode Lottery through the Postcode Culture Trust, to improve MAC’s spaces and elevate the previous food and drink offer. A key objective is to support the charity’s financial viability as they reopen in challenging times.
The new café and restaurant will introduce seasonal menus and a wide range of vegetarian options, with meals cooked freshly on-site, including homemade sourdough pizzas, a range of breakfast, lunch and dinner options, plus specially-made cakes and pastries. KILN also boasts an impressive pizza oven and open-plan bakery section, overseen by the café and restaurant’s very own pastry chef, as well as a beautiful art-deco-inspired cocktail bar.
Carl Finn, Head of Catering at MAC, said: “The aim of KILN is to provide an enjoyable dining environment, whilst offering a high-quality experience at an affordable price where visitors can relax in the heart of the venue. We’re creating seasonal menus, whilst retaining popular choices – including MAC’s famous chips – and introducing new, fresh, interesting recipes and ingredients.”
MAC has enjoyed a successful partnership with Birmingham-based company, 2G Design and Build, to recreate this contemporary space. Every detail has been considered, such as the new recycled table tops, sourced from Foresso, a local company specialising in sustainable surfaces made from at least 65% waste material, to the sculptural cloud lights, designed by Stephanie Forsythe and Todd MacAllen (Molo Design), made from polymer bank note material, that beautifully float above the diners.
In respect to the safety and wellbeing of its customers, MAC has made a new move to table service in the café and restaurant. This shift both adheres with current government guidelines, as well as reducing queues and waiting times. The new online booking system and in-house online ordering will be available to help reduce queues and waiting times, and ensure greater accessibility.
Deborah Kermode, CEO and Artistic Director of MAC, said: “MAC’s ethos of collaboration and creativity runs throughout the arts centre and into the new café and restaurant. The name KILN was inspired by the ceramic kilns we have on-site that bring so many visitors together to be artistic. A kiln fires up amazing experiences – whether it is handcrafted pottery or delicious homemade pizzas – it evokes passion!
“Business-wise, it is important to say that every customer’s purchase at KILN directly contributes to the charity’s earned income, enabling more art and artists to be supported. Eating cake and sipping coffee at KILN really will help MAC to survive a tough recovery programme as we go forward and we hope you will join us.”
To book your table for KILN from May 17th or learn more about MAC’s new café and restaurant, click HERE and follow @kilnbymac on Instagram.
All images by Tom Bird
