Luca and Secret Cinema trio partner with AngloThai’s John Chantarasak for three-month pop-up
Billed as a restaurant and arts space with a sustainable ethos, Outcrop will be located in a verdant courtyard within the Brutalist creative hub that is also home to the two-Michelin-starred Ikoyi serving as ‘an inner-city oasis within London’s West End to connect guests with nature’.
Chantarasak is best-known for his long-running AngloThai concept, which is inspired by his half British and half Thai heritage and celebrates the cooking techniques, flavours and culture of Thailand alongside seasonal British produce with UK-grown ingredients subbed in for Thai ones in some cases.
He and his wife and front of house counterpart Desiree - who is also involved with Outcrop - are in the process of launching a restaurant with Kol and Casa Do Frango operators MJMK.
Inspired by Outcrop’s overall mission, Chantarasak has created a menu with a focus on seasonal British vegetables, as well as a smaller selection of native breed animals and line-caught fish, all cooked over charcoal ‘in keeping with the traditional cooking practices of rural Thailand’.
Dishes will include root Vegetable som tam, tamarind and London honey; salt-baked beetroot, scallop roe chilli jam and wild garlic; Wye Valley asparagus and sunflower seed Satay; coconut-smoked turbot bone broth; skate wing jungle curry; and Thai tea burnt cream.
Desiree will curate Outcrop’s wine list of ‘exciting low-intervention European wines’ all served on tap by the glass or carafe. Uncharted and Modal Wines will supply their wines to Outcrop in recycled and refillable kegs, completely eliminating the waste caused by glass bottles.
Outcrop bar manager Rob Simpson, who honed his experience at restaurants including The Clove Club and Gymkhana, has collaborated with Outcrop to curate a drinks list making use of hedgerow fruits, spirits and botanicals from the best producers across the UK.
Outcrop’s founding team is made up of Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith (co-founders of Michelin-starred The Clove Club and Luca), alongside Tom Allott, Sabrina Goreeba and Andrea Moccia (three of the team from Secret Cinema).
It aims to be a new type of gathering place - a 'green social club' within the city that 'brings people together to eat, drink and have fun, all whilst striving to have a positive impact on the planet'.
Initially launching for a limited run at 180 The Strand, in the longer term Outcrop plans to link buildings in cities with large-scale regeneration efforts in the countryside, mobilising communities in cities to increase biodiversity in rural areas.
