Seven Dials Market to debut new pasta concept Strozzapreti and welcome Japanese soul food restaurant Nanban
Launching in September 2019, KERB’s Seven Dials Market has revealed the two independently-owned restaurants that will be housed within the 19th century Thomas Neal’s Warehouse; authentic Italian pasta bar, Strozzapreti, and Japanese soul food restaurant, Nanban, from MasterChef winner Tim Anderson.
Strozzapreti is born from the minds of the original Franco Manca team and introduces a fresh approach to pasta with sustainability high on the agenda. Franco Manca Co-Founder and sourdough visionary, Bridget Hugo, pasta guru, Andrea Beccaceci and rebel restaurateur, Giuseppe Mascoli, have concocted an authentic Italian concept that promises to whet the appetite of Londoners’ with a seemingly insatiable quest for high-quality, big flavour pasta. As usual they value ingredients and seasonality above all else, while still offering affordability.
The 3-course menu will feature a selection of simple antipasti and twists on classic Italian pudding ingredients, with fresh pasta made from durum flour and organic English spelt.
Highlights include the Strozzapreti Four Cheese Fonduta with herb infused oil, and the Pappardelle with Rabbit Ragu and Marsala livers. The traditional ‘no cheese with fish’ rulebook is thrown out of the window for the tasty combination of fresh mussels and creamy pecorino with spaghetti and datterini gialli.
Bridget Hugo, Co-Founder of Strozzapreti says, “Tasting and designing is the most creative and fun part of producing food and I’ve taken a lot of inspiration working with Beccaceci and Mascoli to establish these entirely new pasta dishes. After a decade working in Italian cooking, I am still always so impressed with how Italians seem to know better than anyone what good ingredients taste like and how to make them work in a simple and healthy way.”
KERB’s first bricks-and-mortar site presents a bold new vision of London’s dynamic food scene – from award-winning street food traders, to award-winning MasterChefs. Nanban, the Japanese fusion restaurant from 2011 MasterChef winner Tim Anderson, takes influences from Afro-Caribbean, Latin American and Middle Eastern cuisines for a melting (ramen) pot of flavours.
Tim’s second outpost at Seven Dials Market brings his critically-acclaimed ramen to central London for the first time since debuting next to Brixton Market in 2015. Similar to Brixton, Nanban Central will use local produce from the market’s Cucumber Alley where fresh produce will be sourced and sold daily.
Ramen lovers can slurp their way through a choice of three hearty bowls, including the infamous Dry Lamb Curry Ramen with padron peppers, tea-picked egg and an added British twist of Montgomery cheddar. Nanban Central will serve two new weekly dishes inspired by the market’s Cucumber Alley produce, including a Market Ramen featuring rotating seasonal ingredients, and Market Hiyashi Chūka, a weekly cold ramen noodle salad.
Tim Anderson, Chef and Owner at Nanban comments, “With Nanban first starting off as a pop-up through to our Brixton Market restaurant, I’m extremely proud to be bringing our unique, eclectic flavours to London’s newest market in the heart of the city. At Nanban we celebrate Japanese food mixed with international flavours and seasonal ingredients, so I’m very excited to see what we come up with when being surrounded by the inspiring street food traders and chefs and Cucumber Alley’s fresh produce.”
Seven Dials Market will occupy the space between street food and full-service restaurant experience, giving Londoners a place to dine out for every taste and occasion. Seven Dials is the intriguing network of seven streets that links Covent Garden to Soho and is a vibrant district in the heart of London’s West End. The two restaurants join an already tantalising line-up of traders, including Club Mexicana, Yum Bun, INK, Square Root, Rice Guys and the world’s first cheese conveyer belt, Pick & Cheese.
Seven Dials Market will be KERB’s first permanent site, set to match some of the best food halls in the world, in both location and scope, whilst authenticating the offer with the company’s mission of incubating London’s best street food traders. Dedicated to supporting independent food and drink, even in the centre of London’s West End, Seven Dials Market will offer up-and-coming food traders’ prime real estate as well as housing some of London’s finest independent brewers and distillers. Situated within a former independent banana storage warehouse, the 22,000 sq ft market will reflect the building’s heritage and bring a taste of modern London to Seven Dials.