Hammersmith’s Base Face Pizza and rapper Tinie Tempah’s soul-food project Raps are the headline acts for a new ‘Riverside Market’ hospitality hub opening next year behind Fulham FC’s new stand on the Thames Path.
The ultra-modern 8,000-seater Riverside Stand has been built at historic Craven Cottage over the past five years and comes into full operation this season. It towers above the Thames and incorporates ‘Fulham Pier’, a promenade with public access that links with the Thames Path where the Riverside Market will be open seven days a week.
The huge building attracted considerable controversy, and the football club is keen to promote it as “a venue for the community” offering a year-round “social destination for residents, locals and tourists” – including several rent-free opportunities for small businesses.
Upper levels of the building will incorporate a members’ club with roof terrace, a boutique hotel and health spa, a venue for live events called ‘The Orange Box’, and a ‘destination restaurant and brasserie’, details of which have yet to be announced. There are also state-of-the-art facilities for lucrative match-day packages.
Fulham’s owner, Shahid Khan, said: “As the first stadium transformation of its kind in Europe, we can’t wait to share the new space with our community and visitors from across London and throughout the world, certainly when Fulham is playing but also every day of every year. I am looking forward to seeing the destination come to life within the year ahead with friends, families and people of ages able to find something to enjoy at Fulham Pier.”
Base Face is a local pizza champion hailed for its highly rated sourdough pizzas in this year’s Harden’s guide. Launched as a lockdown project by jazz bassist Tim Thornton – who is billed as a “life-long Fulham fan” – it already has two local spinoff branches, in Barnes and Putney.
Tinie Tempah, who has morphed into an all-round entrepreneur with interests in fashion and television as well as music, launched his food project Raps two years ago – blurbed as ‘an indulgent yet healthy soul food offering, a nostalgic nod to Tinie’s favourite childhood eateries’. Not surprisingly, Fulham’s announcement this week dodged the issue of Tinie’s football affiliation – he’s a Gooner.
Riverside Market restaurants are expected to launch next summer, at the end of the football season.
