Langhoff & Juul

Jonas Langhoff is the driving force behind Langhoff & Juul: a small restaurant in the centre of Aarhus and a Hotel in the town of Ebeltoft 40 mins drive outside Aarhus.

Both the restaurant and the hotel are run by the same principle: Time is the most important resource we have.
The principle of time as a resource is simple: If you have enough time you will do a better job when you are doing it, be better prepared, be more aware in each moment that you interact with the customers and you will not deplete your other resources and get stressed and injured. You will on the other hand enjoy the work, find new and smarter ways of doing things and not least have time to reflect on the work and as a result be able to take on a much more individual responsibility of your tasks.

The practical way of providing more time to do all these things is to cut down opening hours, the restaurant is open only 3 nights a week: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and in the off-season, the hotel is only open on the weekends.

This of course means that the revenue is lower than what could be achieved with a full week opening plan, but then the staff would be just as busy as in all other restaurants, and the objective of having enough “time” would not be met. The restaurant also put a cap on the number of guests, so the maximum number for people is 35, even though the room and kitchen could probably serve 70 people.

No one at Langhoff & Juul should work more than 30 hours a week, and if they do so in peak periods the management team will come up with solutions for bringing it down to the preferred weekly workload.

Circular Strategy: Loop

Country: Denmark

Preloved furniture and service

All the furniture and Service used in the restaurant are second hand pre loved items sourced from travels and local vintage brokers. It is not cheap to buy antiques, but the look is timeless and does not have to be changed in the lifetime of the restaurant.

If something breaks you don't have to replace the whole table set - only the one item that is broken.

In the beginning, Jonas brought all the plates and dishes home from vacations in France. But soon he had to get them from specialised vintage brokers in the area. Not a cheap option, but not as time consuming either.

Economic impact
What were the most important impacts of this project in financial savings?
The vintage look and feel build a very special atmosphere in the restaurant, and since it is carried through in every detail there are lots of small details to look at and talk about.

This helps create a very distinct identity of the place, and since all meals are served in a “social dinner” concept where the food is served on dishes and not on the plates the guests have lots to talk about while eating.

The longevity of the decor is important since it doesn’t go “out of style” so each item has a very long time of service.

Social impact
The use of local vintage brokers helps them stay in business and thus be able to promote the re-use sustainability agenda in the area. It also helps the customers to see the use of vintage decor and furniture as an option thereby promoting the re-use culture to a broader audience.

Environmental impact
Re-use of vintage furniture, service and decor has an obvious impact on the environment since they don’t require any resources for new furniture and service.

Human resources
Staff who is aware of the values the restaurant is run by.

Financial resources
Second-hand does not mean cheap.
This does not mean that this type of decor is cheap by any means. Antique decanters and serving dishes can be very expensive indeed, but they all serve the same purpose: to enhance the atmosphere and the identity of the restaurant.

Other resources
The furniture, service and decor used in the restaurant are reused vintage items.