In time for Fashion Week, London favourites Canteen have seized the trend for pop-ups to open a temporary restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden near Somerset House...
In time for Fashion Week, London favourites Canteen have seized the trend for pop-ups to open a temporary restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden near Somerset House. In the centre of the market, the open air kitchen is a celebration of British food and British design. With furniture by Very Good & Proper and a menu of contemporary British classics made from quality ingredients, we enjoyed a simple, comforting meal including fish and chips, beetroot-cured salmon, ham hock and piccalilli, and a black currant jelly with vanilla ice cream. Covent Garden is slowly shedding its reputation as a culinary hinterland fit only for tourists. “It has always been a vibrant part of London but it has never managed to attract chefs or restaurateurs and has suffered on the eating out front,” Canteen co-owner Patrick Clayton-Malone tells us. “They approached us to be the first restaurant in residence and we felt drawn to be in the market hub.”
“It feels very alfresco,” Clayton-Malone continues. “We've got birch trees, festoon lighting and bunting. We've gone for post-war colours using standard green, blue and red, it's slightly village Fête-like.” A prominent design feature is the specially-designed utility chairs and the long, light wood tables; clean contemporary lines set in contrast to Covent Garden’s vaulting Victorian arches.
Having opened their first branch in Spitalfields seven years ago, Canteen are an all-day-dining, no reservations restaurant. “We have always had a democratic stance” says Clayton-Malone. Over the next six months Canteen will be hosting special events and bringing in celebrated chefs – “we just can’t say who” he teases – to tie in with Frieze and the London Design Festival.
Text by Ananda Pellerin
Ananda and Neil visited Canteen Covent Garden on Thursday September 15 at 8:45pm. Ananda Pellerin is a London-based writer and Neil Wissink is a visual artist also based in London. More from The Hunger here, and contact The Hunger here.
