The dining room and bar for The Open Kitchen
With Gizzi Erskine in charge of the food side of things and all manner of well known London food folk supplying the drink and produce, the opening of Mare Street Market in Hackney was always going to be a big deal. We popped down a few hours after it opened its doors this morning and there were already a shed load of East Londoners checking it out.
The deli featuring all manner of local London produce
The front bar section with wine shop
And the place does look wonderful. Right now, Gizzi's main restaurant, The Dining Room which is being headed up by chef Tim Mawn in the kitchen (ex-Scott’s and Sexy Fish) isn't open - that and the raw bar are coming online in a few weeks. But for now, The Open Kitchen is serving food (at 50% off for the first week's soft launch), Flying Horse coffee is open (coffees are just £1 for the soft launch period), the record shop and flower shop are both open too.
Gizzi's main restaurant The Dining Room
The menu for The Open Kitchen looked pretty great when we went. Brunch dishes include avocado with togorashi and toasted sourdough and a scrambled egg with smoked trout on rye which we tried. Main courses for lunch and dinner which kicks off from 1pm include porcini pizzas, Wiltshire burrata salad with chilli lemon and cima di rapa and a gorgeous sounding wood-fired cauliflower with dandelion, grape, hazelnut and gorgonzola buttermilk ranch and hot sauces. There's also rotisserie chicken with shoestring fries, watercress and chicken sauce and the desserts are definitely worth a try including miso caramel banana split andd pina colada sundae.
Scrambled eggs with smoked trout on rye
The kitchen
The bar area serving up cocktails, wine and craft beers
Come summer, though, what's really going to make this space come alive is the large terrace that runs all down the side of the building. We'll see you there for a Tommy's margarita.
The huge terrace - which will be great when it stops raining
More about Mare Street Market
Where is it? 115 Mare St, London E8 4RT
When does it open? 28 March 2018. The food stores and deli will be open for breakfast from 8am and the open kitchen will be serving brunch from 10 and lunch all the way through to dinner. The soft launch offer is 50% off food for the first week. The Dining room main restaurant and the raw bar will open a few weeks later.
Find out more: On their website or follow them on Instagram @marestreetmarket
