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Lewis Craig Blog

Lewis Craig welcomes chef James Cochran to Islington

Lewis Craig are delighted to announce the sale of 107 Upper Street to James Cochran’s new restaurant venture, 1251.

James rose to fame with his London City restaurant, James Cochran EC3. His new addition, 1251, will be more ambitious, with influences from Italy, China, Scandinavia, the Caribbean and the UK, with Kentish ingredients bringing everything together.

James calls his style of cooking modern British, but knows how vague the term can be. “It’s a hard thing to define,” he says. “It basically means using good produce with influences from all around the world, so it could be all sorts of things. I’m half Scottish and half Vincentian and was brought up in Whitstable, so I try and blend all three of those things into my cooking style.”

Keeping with current trends, 1251 will serve small plates, with the option of a five-or eight-course tasting menu in the evenings. The focus falls on the ingredients more than anything else.

James continues, “I’ve been in London for a decade now and you end up working with wholesale suppliers, so I wanted to work with some really small ones from Kent instead. I get my meat direct from a place that has lamb from Whitstable and pork from Faversham, and every month we’ll be showcasing a different supplier and sharing as much information as we can about the produce on the menu. We’ll also be focusing on English wines, with a different bottle put centre stage every month.”

James is quite clearly a very talented chef, and you’ll be able to watch him in action in this year’s Great British Menu representing the South East. There’s a sense that, until now, he hasn’t been in the right restaurant to truly show what he has to offer. It certainly seems as though 1251 is set to change that.

It has been a pleasure working with James and his team on this project, and we can’t wait for the doors to open!

Check out 1251’s instagram page for updates: https://www.instagram.com/1251_restaurant/

To see how we can help you expand your restaurant concept, or dispose of premises surplus to requirement, or to discuss retail or leisure property in general, please get in touch with Theo Benedyk at Lewis Craig.

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