British furniture brand Very Good & Proper has recently launched the Canteen Utility Chair, just prior to it being installed in the newly opened Canteen restaurant in Canary Wharf – the fourth Canteen venue to open in London.

Very Good & Proper was founded by Canteen co-owner, Patrick Clayton-Malone, as a production business to turn specially-commissioned furniture for his restaurants into commercially available products for everyone. Of course, this idea is entirely fitting – Canteen is an exercise in democratic dining devoid of any snobbery or elitism.

The Canteen Table was the first design in the collection, created by design duo Klauser and Carpenter for the restaurant’s Baker Street location. The table comprises cast aluminium legs that can be fixed to any tabletop without the need for bracing supports. Additional to this was the introduction of the Canteen Hook & Knob. 

Despite being new designs, each of the pieces in the collection possess a familiarity of form. They don’t shout from the rooftops. In their own words, VG&P was “established to produce considered, practical, relevant and reasonably priced products, originated by emerging and recognised design talent with longevity in mind.”

At LDG, we adhere closely to their message that products should be made to last. The VG&P sub-line fits perfectly – MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE.

Check out all of these designs in the new Canteen restaurant in Canary Wharf and tuck into really tasty British food while you’re there. Otherwise, visit their other locations in Spitalfield Market, Royal Festival Hall, or Baker Street.

Should you wish to buy any of these designs, you can get them from leading design retailer twentytwentyone. See pages 106 & 119 in LDG for more info about their stores in Islington and Clerkenwell.

Also, keep an eye out for the contribution of Max Fraser (LDG editor) in the forthcoming Canteen cookbook (due for release in Spring 2010) where he writes in more detail about the design of their restaurants and the VG&P collection.