Caravan Kings CrossThe extraordinary redevelopment of the area around Kings Cross Station continues apace. Since the Eurostar terminal arrived at St Pancras in 2007, the area has seen the opening of King’s Place – a canal side arts center and home of the Guardian newspaper; the restoration and reopening of Sir Gilbert Scott’s much-loved Midland Hotel and an impressive new roof at Kings Cross Station.
Recently Granary Square, an expansive cobbled space north of Regents Canal, has opened, making apparent the scale of the final project (it even has a new postcode, NC1).
Formerly a canal basin where barges unloaded their goods, it has newly installed fountains and wide steps leading to the towpath.
Caravan King’s Cross offers all day dining in a former grain store. The impressive space has been minimally restored. Brickwork is left exposed; wooden tables with screen-printed paper covers are simple and elegant. An industrial size coffee grinder in the corner looks right at home.
The choice of teas are from London’s own Rare Tea Company, who carefully source from small tea gardens. My pot of green tea was very good, and there are some wonderful sounding cakes and snacks on brunch menu (pdf) – or you can order something more substantial.
Now is a good time to visit. So far the rebuilding and restoration has been done with imagination and flair. inevitably there are ‘retail units’ planned, with the potential to make a unique area look like any-town, so it will be interesting to see how it looks in the next couple of years.
The visitor centre at entrance to St Martins School of Art has information on the history of the area and future developments.
Hopefully all the eateries will be as fine as Caravan.
Address: Granary Building 1 Granary Square London N1C 4AA
Website: Caravan Kings Cross
Nearby Caravan, Kings Cross
Caledonian Road
Kings Cross