Five street food stalls-turned-restaurant
Increasingly, London’s chefs see it as a rite of passage to take their trade to the city’s markets and festivals before investing in a bricks-and-mortar business. Here are five of the best restaurants that started out on the streets.
The Cheese Bar
Unit 93/94 Camden Stables, NW1 8AHGrilled cheese, in toasted sandwiches, from a truck – it’s a simple-but-successful combination that propelled this start-up into a permanent home in Camden Market, where it melts fine British cheeses with creative additions like pear chutney or rosemary butter.
Pizza Pilgrims
11 Dean St, W1D 3RPIts little three-wheeled van can still be seen in Soho’s Berwick Street, but the Pizza Pilgrims mini-chain now bakes superlative Neapolitan-style pizzas for the masses across the city.
They’re relentlessly authentic, with pliable bases and toppings of the best Italian ingredients.
Smokestak
Smokestak, 35 Sclater Street, E1 6LBIt’s all about the meat in this dark, hip Spitalfields joint, where nose-to-tail cuts spend serious time in a smoker and the barbecue is always burning.
The signature smoked brisket bun with pickled chillis and punchy ketchup is practically compulsory.
NT's Bar
207, 1 Westgate St, E8 3RLNT stands for Night Tales – a summer-season street food and cocktail bar market – which has now found a permanent home in this scruffily romantic top-floor bar.
In the evening watch the sun set over the tracks of London Fields station outside, as you sip their subtle twists on classic cocktails.