Eat & Drink
Originally published on Thursday, 24th June 2010
Studio East Dining
Temporary cultural canteen takes to the skies
Westfield Stratford City
www.studioeastdining.com
Location
The Carmody Groarke designed temporary pavilion on the rooftop of the still-to-be-completed Stratford City branch of Westfield’s, of course! If you haven’t heard of ultra-cool, cultural happening Studio East whose comittee, chaired by Mary Portas, includes Roland Mouret and Tracy Emin who bring together creative establishment figures with the up and coming, here's your wake up call.
Vibe
Bistrotheque boys Pedro Flack and David Waddington, London’s first true purveyors of the pop-up, are responsible for this deeply urban temporary space that overlooks London’s Olympic park and Zaha Hadid’s Aquatics Centre. Waiting staff wear Acne, vertiginous hostess Gwendoline Christie, Giles Deacon, and head chef Tom Collins has relocated from Bistroteque’s HQ in Tower Hamlets to this sky-high makeshift kitchen.
Flavours
The menu is, unsurprisingly, fairly British with tinges of modern European, meaning you can chow down on things like Dorset crab, endive and grapefruit, grilled polenta and asparagus and honey and thyme roast peaches with marscapone. At £75 a throw, even including well-chosen wines and Patron tequila cocktails, the three course menu doesn’t come cheap, however, so soak up the views and, like, the whole one-offness.
Décor
Architects Carmody Groarke, responsible for that most sainted of pop-ups The Double Club, used scaffolding pillaged from the surrounding building sites to create this extraordinary, many-pronged, star burst-like structure that juts out into the sky. There’s also a private dining space for a maximum of 30 people that has countryside views as well as city ones, with Canary Wharf and the Gherkin in the distance; a snip at £2,500 and upwards for you and your guests.
Upshot
The good news? ‘This is the Rolls Royce of pop-ups’, or so says Bistrotheque’s Pablo Flack. The bad news? You’ve only got ten days to blag yourself a table (it’s open Weds to Sat in the evening and Friday and Sunday lunchtimes) so be prepared to sell your granny. Due to an overwhelming response, however, you’ll be pleased to hear it from us that extra covers have just been added for lunch this Friday and next, so you might just be in luck.
