David Lloyd Clubs has opened a pop-up restaurant in Hackney, London, designed specifically to complement positive mental health.

The health club operator has teamed up with a team of nutritional therapists and interior designs to create The Good Plates, a restaurant in which every aspect has been designed with positive mental wellbeing in mind – from the food, the tableware, the décor and colour scheme to the lighting and music.

The menu has been created by chef and mental health ambassador Andrew Clarke, under the supervision of nutritional therapist Ian Marber.

When creating the menu for The Good Plates, the pair focused on two things – what the brain needs to remain healthy and what helps the gut.

As a result, the six-course sharing menu comprises seasonal, mood-boosting foods as well as ingredients that take this research into consideration and which are known to complement positive mental health.

"A good diet is essential to better mental health," said Clarke.

"The menu we created uses ingredients proven to help with mental wellbeing, mood-enhancing and better brain functionality.

"We hope this will encourage people to think about food and nutrition not just for physical health, but more importantly for mental health.”

In addition to expert consultation on the food, David Lloyd Clubs worked with interior design professional Katharine Pooley, using research to ensure every part of the restaurant environment is designed with positive wellbeing in mind.

"The Good Plates restaurant is not an attempt to be a cure or quick-fix for mental health difficulties," added Andrea Dearden, marketing director at David Lloyd Clubs.

"Instead, it's a warm and welcoming place where people can learn in an interactive way how certain foods, surroundings and conversations can complement positive mental wellbeing when they form part of everyday life.

“Inside, the aim is to give guests a positive experience and hopefully they will feel that they have benefitted in some small way from their time at the restaurant.

"But we also hope guests leave having taken on board some of the thinking behind The Good Plates and introduce this into their day-to-day lives.”

The pop-up project will be followed by dishes from The Good Plates being made available in David Lloyd clubrooms.

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