Slowburn Is a Restaurant Nestled Inside a London Denim Factory

At Slowburn, a veg-forward restaurant in East London, everyone can enjoy a seat at the table whether they’re vegetarian, a meat eater, or vegan. “Thatʻs why our menu is almost 50 per cent vegan,” says the founder and head chef, Chavdar Todorov. “This is kind of our approach, bringing everyone together.”

He humorously labels the cuisine “London food,” which embodies an international flair with a mashup of different flavours and cosmopolitan options. The dishes have a specific formula and style that’s present throughout. For the veggie dishes, in particular, this looks like a sauce component living at the base of the plate, with the main vegetable, whether slow-cooked leeks or Delica pumpkin, as the centrepiece and a crunchy element as an accessory. This creates an experience that harmonizes and enhances the flavours of the produce itself. It’s multifaceted and supplies nourishing flavours with rich textural experiences—illustrating that sustainable choices and flavour can coexist.

Aside from the menu composition, what makes Slowburn unique is the surprising coziness of its location—an operating denim factory. On weekdays during the day, Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, London’s only craft jeans maker, uses the factory space to design and sew its pieces. But on Friday night, the transition into an eatery begins with tables being shuffled into the space for the weekend rush. Slowburn comes to life with candle-lit cutting tables amongst industrial tumble dryers, stacked denim fabrics, pattern samples, and sewing machines to provide an unusual dining experience.

The use of the denim factory as the restaurant’s location happened organically during the pandemic in 2020. Todorov was friends with the owners behind Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, who asked if he wanted to use the facility’s operating kitchen. It wasn’t a targeted collaboration but instead a natural synergy. Since then, the space and layout have changed over 10 times, Todorov says.

With no shopfront, Uber Eats, or delivery services to support the restaurant, Slowburn began as a “collection only” bistro offering takeaways during the pandemic. It started as a local hub, spreading through word of mouth, where locals would drop in and indulge. This foundation is still the bread and butter of Slowburn, where community support has been key to its success and growth.

Originally, the plan was for the establishment to focus on smoked meats (hence the name), but that didn’t suit the nature of takeaway food. With a changing eating landscape and more people minimizing meat in their diet, the concept didn’t sit right with Todorov. He then switched it around to focus the menu on vegetables and position the meat on the side.

“Normally, if you go to a restaurant, there is a limited dish for vegetarians and vegans to pick from, and the opposite exists if you go to a vegetarian or vegan restaurant, where there isn’t a meat dish,” he says. “That’s how I got inspired to bring everything together.”

Open for four years, Slowburn works alongside the seasons, with some dishes released at certain times of the year. Standout dishes include the Padrón peppers with a smoked miso dip, black bean gyoza tacos, and salt-baked carrots served with refried beans and macha salsa. The smoked Somerset Saxon free-range chicken was smoky and flavourful, immaculately encapsulating the restaurant’s essence by being ironically slowburned.

The dishes are designed to be shared, and they work together cohesively. Taking a slow approach to eating, Slowburn emphasizes “more vegetables, more nutrition, and less waste.” As for the future, Todorov wants the restaurant to be a neighbourhood spot and stay rooted in the community while finding other ways to support local businesses with similar values.

Photographs by Studio VIth Sense and Naf Castanas.

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