Paul Winch-Furness/Arcade Food Theatre
Tracking the city’s growing interest in food court dining, and its consequences
London food halls are hot right now. Between Arcade Food Theatre at Centre Point, Market Halls Victoria, Kerb’s Seven Dials Market, and Time Out’s endless attempts to open a food court opposite a food court in Spitalfields, the “communal dining,” gamification, and prime Instagram opportunities that food halls offer London are hard to ignore.
These food hall and food court spaces, often airily characterised as “democratic” or “for everyone,” tell a story of a city: a story of increasing overheads for restaurants; of time-poor diners chasing the hot new thing; of landlords making money on otherwise low-value property; of communal spaces that aren’t for everyone at all.
Here Eater London tracks London’s growing obsession with the food hall, the biggest food hall openings, any closures, and what this mode of dining means for a city whose restaurant scene is under the microscope like never before. The London food hall tells a story of London itself.