Tastes like London: Kerb launches Seven Dials Market
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Street food pioneers Kerb are set to open the doors to their first-ever permanent home following the transformation of a historic warehouse in the heart of London’s West End.Occupying 24,000 square foot, Seven Dials Market is the new all-day destination packed with 25 independent food businesses all with roots in the city’s streets and markets, alongside a bar and bookshop that support Kerb’s dedication to all things tasty in London.
The arrival of Seven Dials Market breathes new life into Thomas Neal’s Warehouse which, when built in the 19th century, was used to store cucumbers and bananas. The Market is divided into two distinct areas; Cucumber Alley, an indoor lane of specialist London producers, and Banana Warehouse, home to an array of renowned street food traders and brand-new restaurants. It marks Kerb’s first permanent home since it began driving change in the capital’s food industry in 2012.
A trip to Seven Dials Market begins on Cucumber Alley, a strip dedicated to London produce. Family-run bakery Karaway will be bringing its Lithuanian heritage breads and pastries to the West End, whilst champions of British charcuterie methods, Crown & Queue, offers award winning salamis and “London’s greatest Scotch Egg”. Those with a sweet tooth can pick from original Kerb trader Wheelcake Island, who’ll be cooking up their hot Taiwanese pancake pillows, or ex-Locanda Locatelli pastry chef duo, Hackney Gelato’s small batch ice cream.
Situated in Seven Dials Market’s Banana Warehouse are thirteen diverse and independent food and drink traders. Upstairs, visitors can take a seat at the world’s first cheese conveyer belt Pick & Cheese, visit Square Root’s Temperance Bar ‘Soda Stage’, or feast on award-winning vegan Mexican-Californian street food by Club Mexicana. Visitors can pick-up specialty coffee and sweet and savory donuts by Big Shot Coffee & Donuts, a collaboration between Insta-famous donut-maker Vicky’s and bespoke coffee service Coffee Space. Monty’s Deli will be bringing their Reuben sandwiches to the West End, with seafood restaurant Claw cooking up sustainable lobster rolls.
Petra Barran, founder of Kerb, said: “After seven years of creating and supporting a community of food traders to thrive on the streets of London, we are incredibly excited to be taking the next step for KERB. Seven Dials Market has been a long-standing dream of ours and a complete labour of love for myself and all the team. Our ambition is to build not only a home for excellent, independent food businesses to grow, but a welcoming, open space for everyone to enjoy a big slice of London.”
Julia Wilkinson, group restaurant strategy executive at Shaftesbury, said: “Seven Dials Market’s fantastic line-up of 25 independent F&B operators will add an exciting new dimension to Seven Dials as one of the West End’s leading locations. It has been great working with KERB, whose rejuvenation of the historic Thomas Neal’s Warehouse reflects our strategy of creating special place for people to enjoy. We are confident the combination of operators, the division of the space into different areas, such as Cucumber Alley and the Market Bookshop, each providing their own unique experience, will bring something quite different to not just central London, but the F&B sector more generally.”
