Casualfood launches Levante, its new concept for the transport catering industry, and inaugurates its first branch at Mainz main station
Middle Eastern soul cuisine for train stations and airports: With its new Levante concept, casualfood adds the Middle Eastern cuisine trend to its transport catering portfolio. The first outlet with Levantine cuisine has opened its doors at Mainz main train station. Embracing the slogan of ‘Spice up your day’, Levante offers an array of culinary highlights from the Arabian Peninsula, from mezze to makali and falafel to shawarma. The concept harbours promising potential, since it meets all of the expectations of today’s consumers – healthy, diverse, sustainable and delicious, with lots of vegetables and little meat, often vegetarian or vegan and always freshly prepared on site. A wide variety of oriental spices are used to guarantee authentic flavour, which is also embodied by the intricate star anise design in the Levante logo.
The Levante concept consists of a straightforward all-day offer. All dishes, from breakfast to classics like hummus and baba ganoush to crunchy oriental bowls and shawarma, are not only available to eat in, but can also be ordered to take away. Those who are in a particular hurry will find a large selection of ready-made meals to grab and go. In addition to train passengers, the target group includes residents and people who work at or near the train station.
The new F&B concept is colourful, vibrant and lively – just like the souks and street markets in the trendiest Middle Eastern cities. With its warm, earthy tones, the establishment’s high-quality interior reflects the cuisine’s trademark spices, enhanced with fresh touches of green and stylish design elements. Natural materials such as larch wood, marble, terrazzo and clay are used to create an ambience that, like the Levantine cuisine itself, represents a symbiosis of tradition and modernity.
The two casualfood GmbH CEOs, Michael Schorm and Andreas Förster, are enthusiastic about their new concept. ‘Levante is the perfect addition to our portfolio. Middle Eastern soul food is not only on trend, but also offers a huge variety of popular dishes that are quick and easy to serve both as an eat-in option and to take away, which is exactly what we need in transport catering,’ explains Andreas Förster.
Levante is the first casualfood outlet to arrive at Mainz main train station. ‘The location is ideal for the launch of the new concept. We have a small indoor area and a large outdoor terrace directly in front of the station,’ adds Michael Schorm. ‘However, the concept itself is so flexible that we can easily adapt it to all sorts of other locations, from take-away to full service.’ casualfood is currently in talks with several landlords about the roll-out of the format at other sites.
