Outcrop: The New London Food Pop-Up Connecting Us With Nature

In busy, built-up cities, it’s easy to feel far away from the natural world. Yet a new London pop-up aims to help us reconnect – through the power of food and culture. Arriving at 180 The Strand this July is Outcrop, a restaurant and arts space from the team behind Secret Cinema, alongside the founders of Italian-inspired restaurant Luca. 

Outcrop: The New London Food Pop-Up Connecting Us With Nature

Set within a courtyard at 180 The Strand, a Brutalist building which serves as a cultural hub, Outcrop has been designed as a ‘green social club’ which strives to have a positive impact on the planet. Opening for an initial three-month run this summer, it’s the brainchild of Luca founders Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith, as well as Secret Cinema alumni Tom Allott, Sabrina Goreeba and Andrea Moccia.

It will feature a restaurant spearheaded by John Chantarasak of AngloThai, who will be bringing his signature style of Thai cooking to British ingredients. He’ll be focusing on seasonal vegetables alongside native breed animals and line-caught fish, all cooked over charcoal.

John and Desiree Chantarasak, by Ben Broomfield Photography

A low waste ethos will be seen throughout, with preservation techniques and whole ingredient cooking at the heart of the menu. Diners will be able to enjoy the likes of root vegetable som tam; salt-baked beetroot with scallop roe chilli jam and wild garlic; Wye Valley asparagus with sunflower seed satay; and skate wing jungle curry. 

Ben Broomfield Photography

The drinks list will be similarly seasonal, created in collaboration with renowned bar manager Rob Simpson, who has worked at esteemed restaurants like Gymkhana and The Clove Club. Cocktails will be made using exclusively British ingredients, like the British Margarita, a blend of barley eau de vie, London honey and gooseberry; and the Outcrop Martini, a blend of London dry gin and homemade herb garden vermouth. 

Alongside this, there will be drinks from a curated selection of UK-based, impact-driven distilleries, who are demonstrating green initiatives such as growing heritage grains, and helping build soil health. And on the wine front, Outcrop will work with low-intervention names such as Uncharted, who will be supplying its wine in recycled and refillable kegs.

The pop-up will also have an arts angle, with a programme continuing the natural world theme. South African DJ Esa Williams, for instance, will be joining forces with artist Chisara Agor on a performance piece looking into the migration of swallows from South Africa to the UK and the African diaspora. Music artist Sam Willis, meanwhile, will be creating a soundtrack which explores music’s relationship with nature.

At the heart of the pop-up will be a large-scale installation from art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, Sanctuary of the Unseen Forest, designed to invite guests to contemplate their place within nature.

Though the pop-up is initially primed for a three-month run, Outcrop has long-term plans beyond that, such as linking buildings in cities with large-scale regeneration efforts in the countryside. Watch this space.

Outcrop launches on 7 July, bookings available now. outcrop.social