Jailhouse Cook – The First Prison Restaurant Opens in the UK

The Clink is no ordinary restaurant and it is fair to say it’s not one of the most accessible either… As the first commercial prison restaurant in the UK, The Clink can be found behind the rather austere looking walls of Her Majesties High Down Prison; a category B prison based in Surrey. Once diners have handed in the usual array of keys, mobile phones and loose change the serving security guard will guide you to the restaurant, past 30 feet high walls covered in razor sharp wire, through a series of security gates until you arrive at a rather inconspicuous looking brown door. To ensure diners are even more freaked out, what’s behind this door is a World apart; a restaurant with a slick and modern feel, waiting staff who are well trained and attentive to the clienteles needs and a general feeling of confusion as to how a restaurant like this could be found behind the grey walls of a rather drab looking prison.

All the staff at the restaurant share one thing in common – their criminality, which surely add to the drama and theatre of the occasion as diners are left to ponder “what you in here for” when the waiter collects the orders… The food itself has received some rave reviews for its freshness and the skill that goes into the dishes served, showing the commitment and interest the inmates take in cooking and running the restaurant. As the brainchild of Alberto Crisci The Clink successfully uses cooking as way of rehabilitating those who are serving thyme.