Introducing the ‘incubator kitchen’ - the ultimate training ground for London chefs

I hate to put a dampener on the (almost) post-pandemic mood, but between the hospitality industry’s staffing crisis and supply chain issues brought on by both Brexit and the C-word, more risks are associated with opening a restaurant than ever.

Fortunately, more of the city’s brightest culinary brains are championing up-and-coming chefs with incubator kitchens designed to allow talent to test out restaurant concepts and give ravenous Londoners the chance to discover exciting new fare. After bolstering the profiles of super-chefs Santiago Lastra and Niklas Ekstedt, longtime pioneer of the residency concept Carousel is serving up Pablo Díaz’s Guatemalan cuisine from a much bigger, swankier Charlotte Street site.

Underground hideaway Rondo Le Cave, which arrived at the tail end of last year, is currently providing space for Anthony Falco to trial his squidgy slabs of Four Corners pizza in the UK, while at P Franco, Kiln head chef Meedu Saad will be whipping up Egyptian, Turkish and Cypriot-inspired dishes until late March. George Williams of The River Café will be stepping up to the plate at towering member’s club Mortimer House, which recently encouraged the Poon family to gauge the temperature of their hot pots and Louis Korovilas his pasta (rumour has it both now have restaurants in the works).

Keen to get involved from home? Look to the new Dishpatch Spotlight programme, where Jenny Phung of Ling Lings has served up her experimental Chinese dishes, and Ruben Dawnay and Paris Rosina will soon be testing out their menus. Meanwhile, last week Kerb unveiled Kerb Counter, where street food vendors such as BBQ master From The Ashes will be giving a bricks-and-mortar spot a whirl. Hungry? Let the musical chairs begin.