All day dining and craft coffee pioneers Caravan open their largest outpost to date, Caravan Covent Garden housed in a beautiful 19th century grain store in the heart of the city’s West End.
With conception and design by co-founder Laura Harper-Hinton and interior design studio Other Side, inspiration was sought from the building’s rich industrial heritage. As such, the original brick, render, steelwork and metal frames were purposefully left exposed to reveal a natural character and charm; while echoes of the building’s history as a grain house are given a nod through a colour palette of mustard and earthy, paired back hues.
Open from morning ‘til night and offering breakfast, brunch, lunch, cocktails, dinner and everything in between, customers can enjoy fresh, seasonal, healthy and bold-flavoured menus inspired by Caravan’s global travels, including signature dishes jalapeño cornbread, steamed cod dumplings, and crisp chilli salt tofu.
Set over two floors, the ground floor restaurant is filled with grassy, coastal planting that softens the interior and provides a textured, organic feel. An eight-metre-long feature bar is topped with a dark Belgian Blue limestone, with exposed fossils and shells that have been naturally carved into its surface. The team collaborated with Forest To Home to create feature tables that have been handcrafted by makers in Wiltshire. Sourced from a local sawmill, four slices of English Character Grade Oak were carefully crafted to form the large communal tables, with the main dining tables being made with hand-picked Character and Pippy Oak.
Connecting the ground floor with the basement is a blackened mild steel staircase, softened with a sweeping timber handrail and oak treads. Natural light falls through the open stairwell and layered green planting on either side of the stairs helps the guests transition between spaces. Arriving downstairs, guests will stumble upon ‘The Green Room’, a hidden retreat from the streets of Covent Garden. A cocktail bar and vintage music hall, it provides an altogether different experience to that found upstairs.
Born from the need for a good coffee in London, Caravan was founded by three Kiwis who have brought the Pacific Coast to London across a series of spaces that are much loved by locals and visitors alike; this Covent Garden outpost the latest and surely set for similar success.
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Caravan Covent Garden Photography, Mariell Lind Hansen.
