Ridley's in Dalston

by The Decorators and Atelier Chan Chan

London

Ridley’s, a temporary dining experience in Dalston, is a project by The Decorators and Atelier Chan Chan. This group of designers-artists-architects have transformed an exposed yet derelict void in Ridley Road market, into a podium for outdoor eating.

This month a two-storey structure rises above the stalls, housing a new kind of market food initiative. Come and exchange produce from the market for a lunch or bring £15 if you’re looking for dinner (includes your dinner and a £10 food shopping voucher for use at the market ). A lineup of guest chefs create daily menus from market produce only.

Diners are led to a communal table high above the market. Meals are prepared right at the ground floor kitchen, the hub of exchange and production. When the chefs have taken the market produced at turned them into delicious dishes the meals are raised by a mechanical table up to the guests on the first floor. The designers felt that this scenographic journey emphasises the vertical transformation of the raw food at market level to the cooked meals at the elevated podium above.

The temporary summer installation is a means of demonstrating the kind of activities that could be created to make the life of this market sustainable and is an opportunity to re-imagine the possibilities for the regeneration of the area.

Each week, Ridley's hosts a lunch and dinner from Wednesday to Saturday. Lunch is an informal event with the hope of feeding 40 people. The dinner is a sit down meal around one communal table of 16 people. There guests are a mix of the market traders, passerby’s and invited people from all over London.

The Decorators
Atelier Chan Chan

Ridley's in Dalston by The Decorators and Atelier Chan Chan

Ridley's in Dalston by The Decorators and Atelier Chan Chan

Ridley's in Dalston by The Decorators and Atelier Chan Chan