De Hoop’s bottom isn’t made to sail across the ocean, which meant the 90 mile journey across the North Sea, back into the UK, was that much more challenging. After 6 months of waiting for the perfect weather conditions, Tommo and Ryan started their voyage to bring De Hoop home.

After sailing through unexpected stormy weathers, the challenges continued once back in the UK, as De Hoop’s tall structure meant it couldn’t fit under the River Lee’s low bridges. Deconstructing the barge and pretty much taking out the entire top deck, the barge just about squeezed underneath, with help from large water bags below deck, to lower the boat.

Now safely moored at Sweetwater, Hackney Wick, the team’s plan was to lovingly restore the barge using up-cycled, reclaimed, rustic materials to keep in-line with De-Hoops historic architecture. After months of restoration and help from the local community, De Hoop finally became the basis for our floating restaurant, Barge East.

Since opening in 2018 Barge East has grown and developed year by year, winning London’s #1 Restaurant 2019 - 2020 and Travellers’ Choice 2020 Tripadvisor awards. In 2020 we opened the Barge East Gardens, developing the land adjacent to our barge into a stunning landscape for guests to drink, dine & socialise amongst the organic produce that we grow. It’s now one of the largest outdoor dining spaces in East London.

The support we have received from the local community and Hackney Wick residents since mooring in 2018 has been incredible!

We briefly mention in our video how it was the location of Sweetwater and the creative, friendly community that secured the dream of opening a floating restaurant, and in the years since, the support we continue to receive comes without fail.

It’s for this exact reason, that we pride ourselves on giving back to the local community and offering out just as must support. The last year has been an extremely challenging time for everyone and the incredible Barge East team stepped up to give back by providing lunches to the incredible front-line NHS teams at Homerton, assembling food boxes for Hackney Wick residents, donating to Bow Food bank, offering free school meals for children and families in need during half terms and keeping the river and surrounding areas free from litter.

We continue to support the local community in other ways on a daily basis by stocking some of the finest produce that local, East London businesses have to offer. We couldn’t offer our guests fresher produce and ingredients than by working with companies that are within a 10 mile radius.