This is a longer version of an article also published in the Financial Times.
Restaurateurs are fully aware that the current unprecedented demand for their tables is not necessarily being translated into unprecedented profitability.
Selling alcohol at lunchtime is increasingly a thing of the past with one successful London restaurateur wistfully reminiscing to me only last week about how, when he began in the late 1970’s, the barmen had to pre-prepare jugs of Bloody Marys to ensure that they could be served quickly enough. And that was before what was the common occurrence then referred to as a ‘tbl’ or two bottle lunch. In New York the average drinks element of a bill reaches US$30 in the evening but has fallen to around $5 at lunchtime. Furthermore, increasing customer concern over the environment and the impact of food miles is causing more and more people to order tap water rather than a potentially profitable bottle of mineral water.
This situation is being compounded, although of course made more exciting for consumers, by an increasing number of youthful, determined entrants to the food business setting out to establish an inexpensive alternative to what for many has been the staple, cheap and quick lunch, the sandwich. There are three criteria the potential alternative has to fulfil: it has to be relatively small so that it can meet the key price points of £3-£5 and also satisfy the vital take-away market; it has to be served hot to differentiate it from the ubiquitous sandwich; and it has to be of a good and distinctive enough to survive in today’s crowded marketplace.
The north side of bustling Smithfield Market in London has seen two potentially exciting new outlets, Piada and Kurz & Lang, both of which have quickly developed such loyal albeit very different, followings that I am sure new branches will quickly follow. And both have flourished despite very different business models. While Piada, which will only secure its alcohol licence later this month, has drawn in the local lunchtime business clientele, Kurz & Lang prospers particularly through its proximity to the nightclub Fabric. When Fabric stays open 24 hours on Thursdays and Fridays Kurz & Lang sell hundreds of its distinctive bratwurst and an equal if not greater number of bottles of German beer.
Piada, or piadina, is an Italian flatbread from the Romagna area on the north east coast of Italy and the simple principle behind its obvious popularity is similar to that which has made such a success of Cosi, now in 16 states across the US (www.xandcosi.com), in turn based on the original Cosi opened by New Zealander Drew Harri in Paris in the 6th arrrondissement. (amano by London Bridge offers something similar.)
This bread is made using Italian flour, Solivoil, (olive oil in a solid state) and water in Piada’s basement kitchen by Neapolitan Renato Sommella, grilled as you order it and then filled with one of 15 different fillings, rocket and a healthy slug of liquid olive oil. Pasta comes in red bowls, the café’s predominant colour, along with Illy coffee and sfogliatelle, Neapolitan pastries filled with ricotta and citrus fruit. Such is the following that Piada has generated among trendy, young Italians in London that co-owner, Kate Stewart, admitted that she often finds herself addressing all her customers in Italian.
Across the street Valentin von Amsberg and Ina Zimmerman von Siefart have created the same kind of following amongst London’s German-speaking community, which von Amsberg did not believe was quite so large or widespread despite having worked here for several years for American Express. “Some of them I know travel a long way just to eat here and their only complaint is that we haven’t yet opened branches around Bank or Liverpool Street,” he explained.
Kurz & Lang occupies only 35 sq metres on the ground floor with a similar sized storage area underneath but its layout with counters, comfortable high chairs, a few outside tables and a busy grill has been meticulously planned. The grill generates the seven varieties of bratwurst and the diced, roast potatoes that alongside the buns and pretzels comprise the menus, all arranged into a series of tempting meals thanks to von Amsberg’s marketing background. As he cleared up after a busy lunch obviously relishing his new role, von Amsberg confessed that in the early planning stage he had been sorely tempted by a cut price offer from a German bratwurst supplier whom he had subsequently passed over for a more expensive but ultimately much better competitor.
If Piada and Kurz & Lang embrace distinctive national characteristics, then it is impossible at first glance to pinpoint precisely what is the basis of the two compact branches of Fernandez & Wells that have opened at right angles to one another on Lexington and Beak Street in Soho.
A brief glance into the Lexington Street café reveals legs of Iberico ham waiting to be sliced; numerous Italian hams hanging from the ceiling; bowls of giant Greek butter beans; a small blackboard proclaiming that day’s soup and stew, and a counter groaning with a huge piece of Montgomery’s 18 month old Cheddar to be grilled into a toasted cheese sandwich with Poilâne bread and chopped leeks and onions. And on every bit of counter space that remains are bottles of wine from Rick Wells’ eclectic selection.
The food side is the responsibility of the magnificently-bearded Jorge Fernandez who after a long stint at Monmouth Coffee has been refining his notion of what an ideal café should be. These two sites, again intimate but also redolent of Soho’s history with their white walls and simple interiors, have allowed Fernandez to separate his well-chosen ingredients so that neither appears too crowded nor confusing. Beak Street focuses on coffee, chocolate and cakes and is open from breakfast onwards whereas Lexington Street concentrates on the more substantial food at lunch or early evening. Which order you visit them is entirely up to you.
On my last visit to Fernandez & Wells I spotted a well known executive of the advertising industry, distinctive in his purple suit, ordering his lunch to take back to his office. I remembered that 20 years ago he had been a frequent lunchtime customer in my, much more formal restaurant – an obvious sign of just how lunchtimes are a’changing perhaps.
Piada, 12-14 St John Street, EC1, 020-7253 0472, www.piada.co.uk
Kurz & Lang, 1 St John Street, 020-7993 2923, www.kurzandlang.com
Fernandez & Wells, 43 Lexington Street and 73 Beak Street, W1. 020-7734 1546.