Fresh salad concept Urban Greens is set to open its third site, in St Paul’s One New Change, with more expansion set for 2023.
The premium healthy brand was first launched in July 2019 by a trio of university friends turned financial services professionals.
Having tried, tested and tweaked the concept, built up a loyal following at their first two sites in the capital and honed their offering, they are now preparing to roll out.
The new site in the City opens in mid-March, alongside their original sites at St James’s Park and Canary Wharf.
Rushil Ramjee, Houman Ashrafzadeh and Yannis Drivas met at university before moving into corporate roles, where they were looking for fresh, healthy options at lunch.
With the three friends located in Stockholm, Athens and London, they spent weekends traveling to each city to work on their business plan, testing recipes in AirBnBs.
Highlights from their respective local food scenes were incorporated into their recipes.
With a slick interior design, Urban Greens’ is committed to using fresh, seasonal, local ingredients, with 12 menu choices in each store, which are made in front of customers.
Fresh premium ingredients includes ginger-pickled carrots and sesame marinated glass noodles; leaves have made way for tenderly massaged shredded greens and every meal is sprinkled with perfectly toasted nuts, flavoursome fresh herbs and accompanied with complex signature dressings, all in compostable or 100% recyclable packaging.
Houman, who gave up his job as a corporate management consultant in Stockholm, says: “We’re fastidious, obsessive and committed to dismantling what takeaway ‘salads’ have been reduced to in the minds of hungry people.
“It’s difficult to ascribe the word ‘salad’ to what we produce because often what comes to mind with the word is pale, hard lettuce leaves and lumps of cold tomato, rather than tasty green dishes that sing with cajun-spiced tempeh or sweet potato harissa hummus.”
Rushil, who previously worked in asset management, recalls the time before they transitioned from their safe desk jobs: “I still remember those awkward moments at work when I’d receive phone calls from farmers about broccoli, or from our salmon supplier in Scandinavia about the technique of hot smoking salmon with Manuka, in between client meetings. It was overwhelming, but we were excited.
Yannis, who works in pharmaceuticals says: “We can’t wait to expand our brand in London, and beyond; our third site at St Paul’s can’t open soon enough.”
Salads range from £8.85 - £12.85.
