The InSpiral Lounge was an

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

restaurant, eco-

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

and events venue in

Camden Lock Camden Lock is a small part of Camden Town, London Borough of Camden, England, which was formerly a wharf with stables on the Regent's Canal. It is immediately to the north of Hampstead Road Locks, a Twin lock, twin manually operated Lock (wate ...

, Camden, London, England, overlooking the

Regent's Canal Regent's Canal is a canal across an area just north of central London, England. It provides a link from the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, north-west of Paddington Basin in the west, to the Limehouse Basin and the River Thames in ea ...

and

Camden Market The Camden markets are a number of adjoining large retail markets, often collectively referred to as Camden Market or Camden Lock, located in the historic former Pickfords stables, in Camden Town, London. It is situated north of the Hampstead R ...

until its closure in 2016. It was the trading name of Ekopia Ltd.

History

The inSpiral Lounge was founded by Dominik Schnell, plus a team of investors, and opened on 16 December 2007. Annabella Willink was further appointed as co-director on 15 March 2010. Since its opening, the organisation had clear policies on nutrition, environment, music and creativity. It aimed to promote mindful choices and community spirit in a laid back yet energised setting. In the evening the venue hosted live music performances and spoken word along with DJs well known in ambient electronica circles. The venue regularly served as a backdrop for artwork from visionary artists. The premises were shared with Walkers Quay, which organises regular boat trips and dinners along the

Little Venice Little Venice is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm, Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction, also k ...

. inSpiral Lounge evolved from a previous project, IDSpiral, which ran an organic café and a replenishing chill out area, complete with nature inspired sculptures and light installations, at festivals such as

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

and The Glade.O'Brien, Siobhan., View London Review of The inSpiral Lounge, 19/08/2010
/ref> inSpiral Lounge permanently closed to the public on 6 January 2016

Food and drink

The menu was organic and

, and specialised in gluten-free cuisine as well as incorporating a raw food menu It also included a juice and superfood smoothie bar, organic cocktail bar, medicinal mushroom infused coffees and their own range of 14 flavours of raw vegan sugar-free soft serve ice creams. In 2011 it branched out into a secondary wholesale organic living foods business making and selling a range of 33 products including kale chips, cakes, crackers, granolas and

raw chocolate Raw chocolate (raw ground chocolate paste when ground) is chocolate produced from unroasted cocoa beans with minimal processing. As of 2017, raw chocolate was a frequent topic of discussion in the chocolate community. Some raw chocolate advocates ...

. They operated an online shop where amount their foods and nutritional supplement one could also pick up ambient and

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

CDs. It was one of the first establishments in London to provide such an offering.

Music

The venue had a built in DJ booth and hosted

live music A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...

with

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, often taking place at night (an open mic night), in which audience members may perform on ...

nights and notable DJs and performances by artists such as Gaudi,

Dreadzone Dreadzone are a British electronic music group formed in 1993 in London by ex-Big Audio Dynamite drummer Greg Roberts and musician Tim Bran. They have released nine studio albums, two live albums, and two compilations. They gained a reputatio ...

Sound System,

Carbon Based Lifeforms Carbon Based Lifeforms is a Swedish electronic music duo formed in Gothenburg in 1996 by Johannes Hedberg and Daniel Vadestrid (''né'' Ringström and formerly Segerstad). History Formation and early period Hedberg and Ringström (both born in 1 ...

, Raja Ram,

Banco de Gaia Banco de Gaia is an English electronic music project, formed in 1989 by Toby Marks (born 1964, South London, England). The music of Banco de Gaia is mostly categorized as ambient dub and downtempo. Marks works to cross genres, often using Ara ...

, Alex Patterson from

The Orb The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential ...

, Ott,

System 7 System 7 (later named Mac OS 7) is the seventh major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file shari ...

Eat Static Eat Static is an electronic music project from Frome, Somerset, England formed in 1989 by Merv Pepler and Joie Hinton. Hinton left the group in February 2008 after 18 years to spend more time with his family. History Merv Pepler and Joie Hinto ...

, Astralasia,

Mixmaster Morris Mixmaster Morris (born Morris Gould; 30 December 1960) is an English electronica DJ and underground musician who has also recorded as The Irresistible Force. His work in the 1990s blended ambient music and chill-out influences with UK dance st ...

, Space Tribe, Matt Black from

Coldcut Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, ...

and The

Dub Pistols Dub Pistols are an English electronic music band founded in 1996 by Barry Ashworth and Jason O'Bryan. Career The band's first singles were "There's Gonna Be a Riot" and "Best Got Better" in 1998. Their first album, '' Point Blank'', came ou ...

Festivals and outdoor catering

The inSpiral Lounge provided catering, music stages and cafes at several notable events and festivals including The

Glade Festival Glade Festival was an electronic dance music festival, founded by Nick Ladd and Ans Guise, which originally started out as Glastonbury Festival's Glade Stage, which was established by Luke Piper and Mark Parsons who also became founding partne ...

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, Festival of Life, Camden Green Fair,

Secret Garden Party The Secret Garden Party, often colloquially shortened to the SGP, is an independent music festival, arts and music festival held in Abbots Ripton, England. The location is on part of the grounds of a Georgian farmhouse and has its own lakes, river ...

amongst others.

Awards

In 2009 it won the

Archant Archant Limited is a newspaper and magazine publishing company with headquarters in Norwich, England. The group publishes four daily newspapers, around 50 weekly newspapers, and 80 consumer and contract magazines. The company is a subsidiary of ...

Food and Drink Awards for the best

Theme restaurant A theme restaurant is a type of restaurant that uses theming to attract diners by creating a memorable experience. Theme restaurants have a unifying or dominant subject or concept, and utilize architecture, decor, special effects, and other tech ...

and best

Take-out A take-out (US, Canada, Philippines) or takeaway (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth) is a prepared meal or other food items purchased at a restaurant or fast food outlet with the intent to eat elsewhere. A concept found in many ancient cultures, take ...

in London. It was also voted one of the top ten vegetarian restaurants in 2009 by the

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom (VSUK) is a British Registered charity in England, registered charity. It campaigns for dietary changes, licenses Vegetarian Society Approved trademarks for Vegetarianism, vegetarian and Veganism, v ...

and was nominated as Finalist in the Archant Environmental Awards as the ''most environmental small business'' category.

Capital Growth roof garden

The inSpiral Lounge was involved with London's Capital Growth Project, an initiative run in partnership with the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

, London Food Link and the

Big Lottery The National Lottery Community Fund, legally named the Big Lottery Fund, is a non-departmental public body responsible for distributing funds raised by the National Lottery for " good causes". It is the largest community funder in the UK and ...

's Local Food Fund aiming to create 2012 new community food growing spaces across London by the end of 2012. inSpiral is growing space number 93 and is in the process of building a

roof garden A roof garden is a garden on the roof of a building. Besides the decorative benefit, roof plantings may provide food, temperature control, hydrological benefits, architectural enhancement, habitats or corridors for wildlife, recreational oppo ...

where food for the restaurant can be grown locally rather than flown in from abroad. Further to the involvement with Capital Growth, in March 2009 The inSpiral Lounge approached Boris Johnson and Camden Council directly, requesting the use of land near Hawley Wharf for development into a growing space. The request was turned down by the owner, a large Brewery and the land next to Hawley Wharf remains a derelict eyesore to this day.Paygon, Paul., The Camden New Journal, Letters to the Editor, 5 March 2009.
/ref>

References

External links

*
Walker's Quay Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inspiral Lounge 2007 establishments in England 2016 disestablishments in England Defunct vegetarian restaurants Vegetarian restaurants in the United Kingdom Music venues in London Defunct restaurants in London Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Restaurants established in 2007 Restaurants disestablished in 2016