Seven Dials Market, KERB, Seven Dials

It seems there’s just no stopping street food collective KERB. Founded back in 2012 by Petra Barran – whose vision was to seek out and unite the most exciting names in street food talent – KERB has since launched eight popular food markets across London, five of which are still in action. Having proved a success in King’s Cross, Paddington and the City among other industrious areas, KERB is opening a new venue in Seven Dials, revolutionising the local lunchtime scene from September 2019.

Seven Dials Market

Operating under the name of Seven Dials Market, KERB’s new site is not only the company’s first permanent home, but the West End’s first permanent covered food market. The venue itself is Thomas Neal’s Warehouse on Short’s Gardens, a 19th century space formerly used to store bananas and cucumbers. KERB has signed a lease with the landlord, property company Shaftesbury, to acquire the space, which doubles up as the street food collective’s flagship and headquarters.

KERB’s Seven Dials Market is a 22,000 sq ft space spread across two floors, with room for 26 traders and hundreds of visitors. Replacing its usual food trucks with polished counters, KERB Seven Dials will house a mix of street food traders, deli stalls, a florist and a bookshop.

Strozzapreti is a new pasta restaurant from the team behind popular pizza chain Franco Manca

Among the offering is an exciting new pasta restaurant called Strozzapreti from the team behind purse-friendly pizza chain Franco Manca. Co-founders Bridget Hugo and Giuseppe Mascoli have teamed up with pasta guru Andrea Beccaceci to create the three-course menu, which features antipasti, Italian desserts and plenty of pasta dishes sandwiched in between.

While sourdough bases are the trademark of Franco Manca’s offering, Strozzapreti is all about fresh pasta dishes made from durum flour and organic English spelt. Dishes include a pappardelle with rabbit ragu and marsala livers; a strozzapreti (the restaurant’s namesake) with a four cheese fonduta sauce; and a seafood spaghetti dish likely to raise eyebrows for its inclusion of cheese in the sauce – normally a no-no in Italian cooking.

Nanban is known for serving unusual takes on ramen dishes

A second branch of Nanban, the Japanese ‘soul food’ restaurant from Masterchef winner Tim Anderson, can also be found in Seven Dials Market. The original branch of the restaurant opened in Brixton in 2015 and is heralded for its unusual takes on ramen, such as the ‘lazy goat ragu-men’. The new outpost, Nanban Central, serves three hearty bowls, including the ‘dry lamb curry ramen’ with padron peppers, tea-picked egg and Montgomery cheddar. Diners can also try their luck with the weekly special, a rotating bowl featuring seasonal ingredients from the market.