Big names jump on board the King’s Cross foodie revolution

 
Allure: how the redeveloped King's Cross could look

The revitalised Kings Cross area - once feared for its drug taking and prostitution - is luring some of the biggest names in London’s foodie scene in the latest phase of its phoenix-like regeneration.

A flurry of high profile openings planned for this Autumn and 2015 are set to establish the district surrounding the north London station as a new dining destination and finally shed its image as a grotty burger and kebab ghetto.

Major launches in the pipeline include a new flagship branch of Indian cafe Dishoom, a new gastropub from the operators of the Thomas Cubitt in Belgravia as well as openings by the founders of the Wasabi and The Real Greek brands.

Jamie Oliver and D&D London, the operators of Le Pont de la Tour and Quaglinos, are also preparing new outlets close to the Victorian terminus of the East Coast Main Line.

In total at least nine new restaurants, bars and cafes are being lined up for openings in Kings Cross over the next 18 months.

Food writer and former restaurateur Nick Lander, who is advising Kings Cross developer Argent, said: ”Less than 10 years ago this area was so dangerous it was said to have more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in Europe. Now people are moving in to work and study on a large scale.

“The plan is not to duplicate what is elsewhere but concentrate on independents and small groups, we want to bring in different flavours and different cultures. The huge, huge advantage is having Google and UAL (University of the Arts London) here.”

Dishoom, inspired by the Persian run cafes of Bombay, is taking 9,000 sq ft in the Victorian brick Western Transit Shed, where the stables for horses used to move wagons and barges around Kings Cross were located. It will be the third brand’s outlet after Shoreditch and Covent Garden when it opens in November.

Founder Shamil Thakrar said he had decided to open in Kings Cross because “it feels exactly what London needs a lot more of where people from all walks of life live, work and play. It’a so London: really celebratory of its heritage, but also it’s so modern.”

This Autumn there will also be a new Greek deli and restaurant called Bakaliko from Theodore Kyriakou, founder of The Real Greek chain and previously the Livebait fish restaurant near Waterloo station.

Meanwhile Wasabi founder Dong Hyun Kim is to open a second branch of his Korean restaurant Kimchee, which started on High Holborn. There will also be a new wine bar and wine shop and artisan coffee shop as well as a tea shop called Yumchaa.

Next year will see the opening of a new three storey bar, pub and restaurant complex in a building called the Pavilion to be run by the Cubitt House group, operators ofd the Thomas Cubitt and three other London hotel pubs. Kings Cross station was designed by Thomas Cubitt’s younger brother Lewis.

The new pub is likely to be called The Lighterman after workers who operated flat bottomed barges on the Thames and in the Docks and will open in 2015.

Next year will also seen the launch of the German Gymnasium restaurant on St Pancras Road by D&D London and a major Jamie Oliver outlet that will also include a film studio.

There are currently just three outlets on the 67 acre Kings Cross redevelopment zone: New Zealand tapas restaurant and coffee roastery Caravan, Bruno Loubet’s vegetable led restaurant Grain Store. and a cafe called Canal Reach Canteen.

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