Top chefs Brad Carter and Tom Brown are collaborating on a new surf and turf restaurant in King’s Cross, one they’ve described as an “easygoing, refined celebration of meat and seafood”.
Island will be “rooted in the produce of the British isles,” the Standard was told, but inspired by the American surf shacks that specialise in generous, homely cooking.
The 90-cover restaurant will be housed inside the Chandelier Room at Mare Street Market in Lewis Cubitt Square. It will be, the chefs said, “a traditional steakhouse with a coastal twist”, with green banquettes, wood paneling, and a cocktail bar on a mezzanine floor above the dining room.
“The name is a homage to the islands I have cooked on with Tom throughout our travels, from the rugged British coasts to more tropical shores,” Carter said.
“The food is proudly local, with a fierce focus on sourcing the best of what the British Isles have to offer.”
The menu will pair dayboat fish and shellfish with rare breed meats such as dry-aged beef from retired dairy cows. Brown will oversee the seafood, while Carter will look after the meat. Given the both chefs’ Michelin star pedigree, the Standard expects fairly upscale prices.
Dishes will include caviar crisps, pickled cockles, and a jamon and oyster Caesar salad alongside Brown’s fish charcuterie, which he developed at Cornerstone and which he now serves at the Capital hotel in Knightsbridge.
There’ll be sharing dishes too, such as quail stuffed with prawn paella and a signature “Island mixed grill” featuring scallops, spiced sausages, lamb cutlets and chicken wings. Daily specials will also be in rotation, while Sundays will bring lobster rolls, roast dinners, hot and cold oysters and Bloody Marys and Caesars (a Bloody Mary made with Clamato).
The drinks list will bring “playful cocktails”, including fish bowls for the table – remember those? – while puddings will involve oyster ice cream sandwiches and chocolate fudge cake.
Brown said: “Island is about bringing people together over great ingredients, cooked simply. It’s surf and turf fuelled by what we’ve learnt cooking together across actual islands all over the world.”
Londoners are likely to be aware of Brown, who also owns the celeb-favourite Pearly Queen in Shoreditch.
For Carter, this foray into London is a long time coming. After closing Carters of Moseley in Birmingham in 2023, where he held a Michelin star for eight years, he was due to launch Undercroft under a church in Mayfair, but the venture fell through.
Island will open in June at Mare Street Market Kings Cross, Lewis Cubitt Square, N1C 4D, @island_restaurant
