Opening date set for Holy Carrot’s second London site

Holy Carrot, the vegetable-forward London restaurant led by chef Daniel Watkins, will open its second site, in Spitalfields, next month.

Executive head chef Daniel, formerly of ACME Fire Cult, has been at the helm of the Irina Linovich-founded Portobello restaurant in Notting Hill since the summer of 2024, after a successful spell as a pop-up.

Now Holy Carrot is expanding the concept from west to east London, on Friday, March 13.

Expanding the Holy Carrot approach

The Spitalfields site will broaden Holy Carrot’s offering for the first time.

While plants remain central to the identity of the restaurant, the addition of dairy and eggs at the new site is intended to create a more inclusive dining experience, without compromising the brand’s ethos.

Speaking about the expansion, Irina said: “Spitalfields feels like a natural next step for Holy Carrot. Its strong food heritage makes it an inspiring place for us to evolve the menu while staying true to what matters most to us: good produce, solid technique, and food people genuinely want to come back for.

“Plants remain at the core of what we do, with dairy and eggs introduced thoughtfully at our new Spitalfields site.”

Fermentation and fire at the heart of the kitchen

The Spitalfields kitchen will continue to be shaped by Daniel Watkins’ twin focus on fire cooking and fermentation, techniques that have defined Holy Carrot since its early days.

For the first time, the restaurant will house a dedicated on-site fermentation vault, which will sit at the centre of menu development and flavour building.

The space will also support the restaurant’s zero-waste ambitions, transforming by-products such as focaccia trims and vegetable peelings into ferments, pickles, miso, soy sauce and garums.

These processes feed directly into both the food and drinks menus, with examples including carrot molasses used in cocktails and a smoked carrot XO sauce developed in-house.

On the new opening, Daniel said the Spitalfields site offered the team the opportunity to push their ideas further.

He said: “Fermentation and fire are central to how we cook at Holy Carrot. They allow us to build depth, character and a sense of play through vegetables in unexpected ways.

"We want food to feel generous and fun, never restrictive, and the new site gives us the space to push that idea further.

“Spitalfields is about opening the doors wider, welcoming more people in and showing just how expressive, comforting and satisfying vegetable-led cooking can be.”

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A bistro-style menu led by produce

Day-to-day operations in the Spitalfields kitchen will be led by head chef Maria Criscuolo.

The restaurant will be open all day, serving vegetarian bistro-style dishes inspired by the surrounding market and global street food culture.

The menu is designed to suit both casual drop-ins and longer, more convivial meals, with dishes such as fire-grilled filled koji flatbreads, changing pie du jour options and playful vegetable-led plates.

A custom-made grill by British Metal Craft will sit at the heart of the kitchen, reinforcing Holy Carrot’s live-fire focus.

A new pizza oven will also introduce pizzettas to the menu for the first time, including a miso-marmite pizzetta finished with grated pecorino, a nod to Daniel’s time at Acme Fire Cult.

Other dishes will include fire-grilled leeks with smoked Holy Carrot hot sauce and hazelnuts, and masala borlotti beans with grilled Iberico tomato and mustard greens.

Design rooted in place and produce

The Spitalfields restaurant has been designed in collaboration with Studio Toogood, continuing Holy Carrot’s design-led approach to hospitality.

Inspired by the area’s history as a fruit and vegetable market, the space combines utilitarian materials such as white tiles, metal, concrete and raw canvas with more expressive artistic elements.

A site-specific mural by Faye Toogood stretches across the restaurant, depicting human figures intertwined with towering vegetables, reflecting the connection between land, body and food. By day, the restaurant offers a relaxed neighbourhood feel, shifting into a more atmospheric, candle-lit space in the evening.

Faye said the collaboration reflected a shared philosophy.

She said: “Holy Carrot makes my sort of food. There is a simple and playful quality to their approach which is a perfect pairing with Toogood.

“I have created a space that feels like my own Platonic ideal of a restaurant. A classic bistro rendered by an abstract painter.”