A new company will launch three new food halls (and announce three more) in London this year in what looks like the consolidation of a new trend for food and drinks businesses. A rise in rents, business rates, staff and food costs has made it increasingly difficult for fledgling independent businesses to either make a go or survive in an increasingly competitive industry. And though far from saving London’s restaurants from extinction, new restaurant collectives are harnessing the industry’s creative talents. And in this case, quite literally, bringing them under one roof.
Although there is no news yet of the operators moving into Market Halls, it appears similar to the half-way restaurant pilot scheme initiated by Nuno Mendes at The Kitchens in Spitalfields. And, in some ways, the Deliveroo Editions restaurant ‘dark kitchens’. The upside? Infrastructural security and something close to guaranteed custom or footfall. The downside? The comparative homogeneity of eating out (or in) and a dilution of the conventional trademarks of hospitality.
The operators of Market Halls are described as “a group of UK based, community-minded property investors and restaurateurs who will be redefining the British concept of food halls and turning unloved public spaces, with architectural and historic interest, into permanent public spaces once again.”
They are: Andy Lewis-Pratt, a former property investor who has been responsible for the securing of buildings with “great architectural importance and merit.” And Simon Anderson, a former art gallery owner and one of the founders of the cult Brit-American barbecue restaurant Pitt Cue. They say they have been inspired by hawker markets in Asia, Dekalb Market Hall in New York and La Boqueria in Barcelona.
- The first site to open will be Market Hall Fulham — opening with 10 kitchens and a bar, in the spring inside the entrance hall of the Edwardian Underground station at Fulham Broadway.
- Victoria will open in summer of this year, transforming the arcaded bays at Victoria’s Terminus Place — what was the nightclub Pacha — into a three story food hall which will open with 14 kitchens and three bars.
- The flagship will be Market Halls West End, which will launch in the autumn in the downstairs of the former BHS building, just off Oxford Street. This will coincide with the pedestrianisation of Oxford Circus.
According to the owners, Market Halls West End will be the largest food hall in the UK — one that will feature a “mix of local producers, retailers, restaurants, street food vendors, four bars, event spaces and a demo kitchen.”
Anderson said he would be encouraging the traders to maintain their individuality: “We want the traders to retain the sense of autonomy that they’ve achieved from owning their stand-alone food business, so are encouraging them to be innovative and allow their identities to shine through. Food is the new rock and roll and we’re providing the perfect stage.”
Lewis-Pratt said the duo want to do something that “hasn’t yet been seen in the UK — dining hubs that “work for the community.” He also said that “The majority of buildings we are working with were originally designed as bustling cultural or commercial hubs, but for whatever reason have been lying empty. We wanted to bring these sites back to life and make them useful spaces for the community.”
Three further London launches which will be announced at the end of this year, as well as expansion planned for various cities across the UK. All Market Halls will be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The participating vendors will be announced next month.