Our
Story

Having recently moved to London from Australia, Rebecca McGuinness started experimenting in her home kitchen desperate to recreate the flavours and textures of the fast food chicken shops she loved and missed from before she was vegan.

Her hometown of Melbourne was quickly becoming well-known for fostering innovative vegan cuisine and Rebecca was determined to disrupt the UK vegan scene in a similar way.

The result of all this mixing, seasoning, kneading, and taste testing ended up being too good to keep to herself, leading Rebecca to start serving her seitan chick’n at markets and events around London.

Attendees at vegan festivals and street food markets across the UK witnessed the birth of Temple of Seitan as we know it today. These appearances lit a fire under the vegan community. Overnight, insatiable devotees began demanding a permanent location.

Temple of Seitan garnered national and international media coverage with the opening of the UK's first vegan fried chicken shop on Morning Lane, Hackney.

Hundreds of people could be seen queuing for a taste of the Temple of Hackney menu featuring crispy chick’n fillets, fries, slaw, stacked burgers, creamy mac n cheese, sauces, and gravy.

Temple of Hackney went on to be named Best Vegan Restaurant in the UK at the VegFestUK Awards, with more than 20% of the public vote.

Temple of Seitan opened a second physical location, this time a sit down dining experience in world-famous Camden.

Temple of Seitan was flown out to the USA to headline the high profile Eat Drink Vegan festival located in Los Angeles where they served food to thousands of attendees. Festival-goers queued for hours (some returning multiple times) for a taste of the most talked about vegan food on the planet.

The Temple Deluxe burger was named the easyJet Traveller magazine vegan Burger of the Year as part of its 12 Best Travel Experiences of 2018, a list curated by more than 30 of the magazine's regular contributors and editors.

Temple of Seitan became one of the first food businesses in Europe to serve hand spun vegan milkshakes.

The Nashville Hot burger at Temple of Seitan was named the most-popular vegan item on UberEats.

Temple of Seitan launched their first delivery-only kitchens in response to the changing needs of its customer base during the global pandemic. These delivery kitchens, coupled with a new physical location in Kings Cross, gave customers all over London a chance to enjoy the Temple of Seitan experience.

Sharing buckets of vegan fried chick’n were launched across all Temple of Seitan locations, in a nod to nostalgic group eating experiences and family get-togethers.

Temple of Seitan now serves from delivery, takeaway, and restaurant locations in Camden, Hackney, Cambridge, Liverpool, York and Edinburgh.

Already one of the most successful vegan fast food brands in Europe, Temple of Seitan is always looking to the future. Plans are underway for new locations not only in the UK, but also further afield.

Rebecca and the Temple of Seitan team are also busy developing retail products for people to enjoy at home in 2024.

Hail Seitan!