New in town: EartH Kitchen

What is the aim of the restaurant? EartH Kitchen is a new restaurant set up in an art décor former cinema, with a large all-day dining space, we’re offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s a light and contemporary space we’ve got here. I’ve placed a strong emphasis on provenance and seasonality when it comes to food with a focus on the quality of ingredients. We have a large music venue downstairs putting on weekly gigs from all different music genres, which is brilliant. What’s its USP? With a strong emphasis on music throughout the building, we will be playing a part in the life and soul of the venue. A line up of everything from raucous Thursday jazz nights to low key Sunday DJ sets, have been curated by artists involved in the project, and in the evening our cocktail bar is an ideal spot for those wanting one more for the road. We really are offering something different for our customers with not just food, not just a music venue, but both under the same roof. Who’s behind it? Myself and Auro Foxcroft, who is the founder of Village Underground and a champion of Hackney nightlife. What are the challenges of putting a restaurant into a venue? Firstly, we had to consider the needs of the people visiting the venue, so that led to the development of a section of the menu that enables customers to have a tasty meal that is also quick for the kitchen to serve. Then we also had to find a solution to the queuing, which led us to build an alternative entrance on Truman Road. What are the most popular items on the food/drink menu? It's been a bit seasonally cold so people have been gravitating towards our slow braised lamb, chickpeas and pickled raisins. Our vegan Dhal and Ridley Road Curry have also been a big hit. What were the biggest challenges when putting the restaurant together? The design was tricky as the kitchen doesn't have any straight walls and a sloping kitchen ceiling that is down to 1.5m in the corner. I really like not working in a box now that it is done! What are the plans for the future? We have plans to link EartH kitchen with the performance element of the venues. We have a program of DJs that will be featuring in our bar area and some low key live performance as well.