Kricket to launch delivery concept with White Rabbit Fund

Indian restaurant group Kricket is to launch its first delivery-only concept in London with the backing of White Rabbit Fund.

Namma by Kricket will make its debut at the Deliveroo Editions site in Stepney Green, East London in early February. 

According to BigHospitality’s site MCA, it will launch under White Rabbit’s operating company Hutch, which already runs Island Poke’s delivery kitchen at the same location.

White Rabbit is also an investor in Madame Wong, Andrew Wong’s soon-to-open restaurant in Bloomberg arcade, and is understood to be lining up a Chinese delivery version of the concept to make up the trio at a later stage.

A spokeswoman for Kricket said Namma would offer more traditional Indian dishes ‘with a twist’.

Namma’s menu is listed on Deliveroo, though it is not yet available to order. Dishes include pork cheek vindaloo (£9); pumpkin and paneer (£8); and Indian doughnuts soaked in rose water and cardamom syrup (£3).

MCA understands White Rabbit Fund managing director Chris Miller sees huge potential for a contemporary interpretation of Chinese and Indian takeaway cuisine, with a plan to roll out the Hutch concepts as a trio at further Deliveroo Editions sites.

The operation will work under a licensing and royalty agreement, with the restaurant founders creating the concept, brand and menu, with Hutch and Deliveroo handling day to day operations.

Kricket co-founder Rik Campbell told MCA: “We all know the delivery market is taking off, and we currently don’t have a delivery offering at Kricket because the food’s more elevated, it doesn’t travel well and we don’t have the capacity.

“The opportunity came to get into delivery under a different name, but with our same foundations, a bit more traditional with a twist, stuff that travels.

“With White Rabbit investing as a group, under the Hutch umbrella, it gives better economies of scale, and means we help each out.

“We will always come as a unit if Deliveroo take us on - that’s where we will have strength in numbers and offering.”

Kricket launched its first bricks and mortar site in Soho in 2016 and will open a second permanent restaurant at the Television Centre development in London's White City this summer.