Food outlet 'Fusion 54' opens on Campus
Thomas Lim visits the newest eatery in College
On Monday, Fusion 54, a new food outlet opened its doors on the Sherfield Walkway.
Unlike all other food outlets within the campus, it is run privately and not affiliated with Taste Imperial or Imperial College Union. Members of the Imperial community will be familiar with its owners; the Bhasin family have run what us commonly referred to as ‘The Sandwich Shop’ on Gloucester Road for twenty-five years.
We got to speak to Sunil and Ash, the brothers behind the new store.
They have been interacting with the Imperial community since they have been based on Gloucester Road. Many student societies and organisations rely on good value and quality sandwiches they provide from Gloucester Road. Whilst Paul Beaumont was Union President, he was known to be a great supporter of their business.
It was felt that the natural extension of the relationship with Imperial’s students would be to open a stall on campus. Analysis of the food market for students in other cities such as Cambridge indicated that the range of food available around Imperial was lower than it should be – which is where the concept of ‘Fusion’ was born. They want to ensure the vegetarian market is well served, and will be expanding their gluten free range shortly.
They are targeting this type of food to give themselves a unique selling point in what is undoubtedly a market otherwise drowned out by Taste Imperial outlets. To this end, they will (to the disappointment of many) not be selling baguettes.
The Bhasins are proud of their food: nothing is stored overnight (everything is cooked on the day itself), resulting in what they believe is a better and more authentic experience than would otherwise be the case.
Getting to this stage has been no mean feat: over a year of detailed negotiations, including scrutiny of their business plans and menu have taken place with the College before a deal was struck to open the outlet. They thank Paul Beaumont who pushed for them to open on campus, providing support along the way.
Student response to Fusion 54 has been positive – one student said “it’s nice to see a food outlet that isn’t Taste Imperial”, with another adding “As long as there aren’t any pigeons inside, I will be buying food from here”.
In their first week of trading, they have sold out of most items before the end of the lunch rush, with queues extending beyond their outlet, overflowing to the Sherfield Walkway.
