City workers at Bloomberg’s new European HQ will have their work cut out for them just trying to decide what to have for lunch. Bloomberg Arcade, a new independent dining hub opened at the media giant’s new offices in Queen Victoria Street, this week vaunting 10 rather trendy-sounding restaurants. The line-up was curated by Bloomberg’s Richard Vines alongside the FT’s Nick Lander.
Richard Vines says: “First, we wanted people doing something creative. Second, we wanted diversity. Choosing the restaurants was like playing a food version of fantasy football and we’ve got some of the biggest names in the business.”
First to open was Vinoteca City which arrived on 9 October. Inspired by the wine bars of Spain and Italy, Vinoteca City has a central bar and expansive open-plan kitchen, as well as a private mezzanine dining area and an alfresco, all-weather patio. The dedicated wine shop offers over 200 varieties from Vinoteca’s vast wine cellar. Exclusive to Vinoteca City is the ‘Wine Ledger’ featuring extraordinary and uncommon ‘off- piste’ wines, all carefully curated and updated weekly by founders and wine experts Brett Woonton and Charlie Young.
Outposts of Caravan (the small chain of bustling haunts with eclectic menus and “phenomenal” coffee), Bleecker Burger (“undeniably the best burger in London”), ever-popular pizza parlours Homeslice, Japanese noodle house Koya, and Hawaiian poké specialist Ahi Poké will launch at the site in November. And JKS Restaurants (AKA the Sethi siblings) the team behind Gymkhana and Hoppers, will unveil an Indian BBQ restaurant inspired by traditional Indian Army mess halls – Brigadiers – in spring 2018.
Andrew Wong (of Pimlico’s A Wong) will also be joining the ranks of Bloomberg Arcade in spring next year, with an as yet unnamed venture occupying a 3,330 square foot site on street level within the development. It will offer a premium casual, all-day dining menu based on Wong’s creative interpretation of classic Chinese dishes. He said: “I’ve been considering the idea of somewhere we would be able to open all day for a while. When the opportunity for the Bloomberg Arcade came along, we knew it would be perfect.”
This will be his first restaurant since launching (the now Michelin-starred) A.Wong in 2012 and will open in partnership with White Rabbit Fund (a hospitality development platform providing capital and advisory services founded by Chris Miller, former Commercial Director of Soho House Group. The fund has backed the likes of Kricket and Island Poké.). The site is scheduled to open in Spring 2018 – watch this space for more details.
And Soren Jessen of 1 Lombard Street was the latest restaurateur to confirm his participation in Bloomberg Arcade this week with Ekte Nordic Kitchen, an informal Scandinavian-influenced restaurant, café and sandwich bar opening in April 2018.
Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg and a former mayor of New York city, described Bloomberg Arcade as “a culinary destination unlike any other in the City”. Vines added that the restaurants were selected for their creativity and diversity: “Choosing the restaurants was like playing a food version of fantasy football and we’ve got some of the biggest names in the business.”
There are also rumours Pierre Koffmann is planning ventures at Bloomberg’s new European HQ.
