A bar in the lap dance row of Tooley Street becomes an organic restaurant [16 April 2010]

Addressing a crowded launch party on Thursday night, he introduced his partner Barnaby Butterfield who supplies meat directly from his Devon farm and “cuts out the middlemen”.

Their joint venture, so named because it sits under the first platform at London Bridge station, is the result of a conversation between friends over freshly squeezed Devon cider.

“Why don’t you ever see the tastiest part of an beef or a lamb? Asked Barnabas.

“We have to use every piece of this animal,” said Tony who claims Platform will have some of the best chicken, lamb, beef and pork on the free-range farm.

Chef Jake Tuthill, who is from The Gun on the Isle of Dogs, says: “I only know of a few other restaurants in London where the chef can work from a whole carcass. It gives you a real choice of which cuts you can use. “

Much of the food will be prepared in a nearby “pantry kitchen” on Druid Street with menus changing daily based on what has happened from the country. Apple juice, cider and ginger beer are also sourced from the farm near Crediton.

Speaking to guests on the first night about the railroad arch, former local resident Tony said: “Everything you see here, other than the bar and the wine cages, is recycled. “

Earlier, he pointed out that even the building itself had been recycled after briefly serving as a piano bar called Rembrant’s, which was at the center of a political row over lap-dance.

Tony McKinlay also runs Chez Jules and The Selly Sausage in Birmingham.

• The Platform Restaurant & Bar is located at 56-58 Tooley Street