Craft London: A Restaurant Feature

Stevie Parle, acclaimed chef, author, food writer and TV presenter opened Craft London, three floors of culinary surprise and excellence in April 2015. Craft London is a partnership with Tom Dixon and designed by Design Research Studio, located in the new cultural hub of Greenwich Peninsula. The project kicked off with a café/roastery in October 2014 and the restaurant, cocktail bar and shop followed in April. The focus is on quality in production, collaborating with modern experts, fanatics and obsessives, to craft world-class products. This includes activities as diverse as the roasting of coffee, smoking of fish, bee keeping, meat curing, fermentation of vegetables and the creation of a contemporary kitchen garden. 

“On one hand we’re opening a New British restaurant, but to say that really doesn’t communicate the scale of what we are doing. There’s a café, a restaurant, a cocktail bar and a shop over three floors of an amazing new building. The café and shop have their own coffee roaster, the restaurant a huge fireplace, meat-curing room and fermenting cellar. The cocktail bar has a phenomenal collection of British gin and whisky along with tinctures, bitters, shrubs and infusions that we have made.  Just outside is a new park by Alys Fowler with an orchard, a smoke house and a kitchen garden for Craft London. It’s a dream project, and what we’re trying to do is ambitious and a little daunting, but I know it’s going to be an awesome, inspiring place to hang out.” Stevie Parle

Restaurant

Cafe

MENU

There is an a la carte menu as well as an ambitious 6 course menu (£65) set lunch menu (£28) and a pre-show 60 minute menu (£35). From the a la carte menu expect snacks such as Cauliflower, Carrot & Turnip Brine Pickles with Salted Yoghurt, created by pickle mad Sous Chef Elliot Thomas who has worked with Stevie for many years; and Cured Pepper Sausage made in the in-house curing room served with English Mustard. Starters featured include Langoustine and British Lardo and Raw Chopped Galloway, Pear with Crisps and Salmon Roe, and for mains Sirloin with Marrowbone Bread Sauce & Lovage Liquor and Clay Baked Duck, Honey, Broad Bean & Barley ‘Miso’ served with Brine Pickled Vegetables. Desserts at Craft London shine too with Buttermilk & Carragheen Pudding with Rhubarb & Elderflower Ice and Baked Spelt offered alongside British cheese and other sweet delights.

Craft London’s wine list is taken care of by Ruth Spivey who works with Stevie at Rotorino. In keeping with Craft London’s focus on produce and production, Ruth has chosen wines made authentically by quality driven winemakers. Often the production levels of these wines will be low; all are made with passion and care for the finished product and the environment.  Every few months the restaurant will focus on one producer, listing a fuller range of their wines. The first producer to be featured is LDNCRU and their SW6 wines, made in the UK’s only Urban Winery in West London. Wiston, from the South Downs in Sussex will be served as the house fizz and can be purchased by the glass.

The cocktail bar at Craft London is a destination in its own right, with a great outdoor terrace and a view of the Greenwich Peninsula Garden’s meadow, orchard, smoke house and bee hives, as well as the Thames and Canary Wharf. The drinks have the same ethos as the rest of the project. The preference is always for hand made products created in-house or by people that Craft London know well. The cocktail bar team is headed up by Adam Wyatt Jones. Adam has put together a list that focuses on sourcing small batch British products like fruit liquors from Wiltshire and Cider Brandy from Julian Temperley, alongside a huge collection of British gin and great whisky.

DESIGN

Craft London is designed by Design Research Studio and forms part of the Greenwich Peninsula development. The design reflects the approach to the food and drink, working with British craftsmen and women to create a modern setting. Craft London is located in an original building by Marks Barfield at the entrance to a beautiful new park designed by Design Research Studio with Alys Fowler and Thomas Hoblyn. The development is set to be a new residential and cultural hub.  

The master plan for the site includes over 45 acres of gardens and open green space; an art gallery, and a commercial district with over 60,000 sq. metres of retail space, offices, hotels, schools and other public facilities. 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Stevie Parle is a young chef, restaurateur, food writer, TV presenter, journalist and dad. Over the last few years he has developed a reputation as a culinary adventurer, discovering new ways to use everyday ingredients, and adapting ideas from his travels to create exciting new recipes for Dock Kitchen in west London, Rotorino in the east and for home cooks.

Stevie has written weekly for Saturday’s Telegraph for the past four years and contributes regularly to British food magazines. He has written three cookery books, My Kitchen: Real Food from Near and Far, The Dock Kitchen Cook Book and TV tie-in Spice Trip.

Ruth Spivey spent 10 years travelling the world as a fashion model before starting a new career in restaurants working for Anthony Demetre and Will Smith (Arbutus/Wild Honey). WSET exams followed whilst also working around the wine trade – in independent wine retail, on trade and supply and as an in house buyer. Turning freelance in early 2013, Ruth set up the speed tasting night Flight Club, and her street food wine bar, Street Vin. The same year saw her create and launch the popular bi-annual consumer tasting Wine Car Boot, to promote London’s independent wine ships. Ruth also consults on restaurant wine lists, most recently Rotorino, Stevie Parle’s southern Italian restaurant in Dalston, and now Craft London, his latest opening on the Greenwich Peninsula.

Adam Wyatt-Jones has been making great drinks in the best cocktail bars in London for a decade. When Adam was GM of Milk and Honey it was generally considered to be the best cocktail bar in the world and was awarded as such several times. Adam has won several awards including Rushmore Bartender of the year 2010. WSET Delamain Cognac Award Winner 2011, and UK bartender Mastermind winner 2011. He has a unique approach using his cocktails to highlight unusual products in a modern and accessible manner, creating enticing combinations everyone loves.

Alys Fowler is a gardener who loves food. She has an allotment and an urban back garden with lots of flowers and plenty of vegetables. She is author of several books and writes a weekly column on gardening for Guardian Weekend magazine. Fowler trained at the Horticultural Society, the New York Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. After finishing her training, she worked as a journalist for the trade magazine, Horticulture Week, and then joined the Gardeners’ World team as a horticultural researcher.

 Address

Craft London

Peninsula Square,

Greenwich,

London

SE10 0SQ

For reservations: http://craft-london.co.uk/

For press information on Craft London please contact Purple:

[email protected] or call 020 7434 7016

[email protected] or call 020 7434 9888