Street food in a market hall

Over 350 years, London’s Old Spitalfields Market has gone from being a fruit, veg and produce wholesaler to a famous, open seven-days-a-week, covered market in a Grade II listed building with a wealth of restaurants, shops selling antiques to eyewear and an arts and crafts market. Retaining its old charm, the market in Tower Hamlets is also a champion of great street food. Even businesses that have become tourist attractions in themselves, however, must evolve.
Teaming up with Ten Ten, a creative venture between Taberna do Mercado founder Nuno Mendes and hospitality expert Stephen Macintosh, the mission was on to create a highend street food offering that complemented, not detracted from, the existing traders on-site. Designed by Foster+Partners, the result was The Kitchens, a distinctive hub of 10 units selling everything from Laowai and Swedish fare to nose-to-tail comfort food and to-die-for desserts.
Handpicked by Nuno and Stephen, each trader within the hub is, crucially, an East London chef restaurateur, the line-up comprising Berber & Q, Breddos Tacos, Flank, Monty’s Deli, Yum Bun, Sood Family, Jaiba, Thousand Knives, Dumpling Shack and Happy Endings. One challenge with the hub was sourcing equipment that was ultra-compact to maximise space in the four, 11.25m2 corner units and six 9.85m2 units. With dinky dimensions, but offering exceptional capacity, the SpaceCombi from MKN was the oven of choice for Hallmark Kitchens, which fitted out the hub. “The oven is very flexible, quick and easy to use,”said Miguel Cordova, chef de partie at Thousand Knives, which sells Japanese small plates.