Loui Blake chooses Fitzrovia to launch his second vegan restaurant

Loui Blake will launch Kalifornia Kitchen on 19 November in Fitzrovia on the former site of Big Fernand on Percy Street. It will join the likes of Ahi Poke; Sagar vegetarian restaurant; and modern Vietnamese restaurant House of Ho.

The all-day restaurant will serve a menu of healthy dishes to be eaten in or for take-out. Breakfast options will include an Instagram-friendly plate of beetroot puree on sourdough bread with an avocado rose, a vinaigrette, and lemon and dill.

Originally billed as serving vegan fast food, Blake’s new venture confirms that it will be focusing on healthy dishes

Lunch dishes will include vegan burgers; burrito bowls; with cashew adobo; red lentil dahl with pickled aubergine, flatbread and cashew lime cream. In the evening, aubergine katsu curry will be available alongside refined starters such as rainbow beetroot carpaccio.

Drinks include the likes of CBD (Cannabidiol) lattes; fresh juices; and immune system-boosting shots.

Kalifornia Kitchen’s exterior is painted a bright pink, and inside the two-storey site the colour scheme features pinks, greys, and greens. The foliage and neon signage that is often seen at casual plant-based restaurants can be seen throughout the site, as well as playful features such as a ‘press for kale’ sign and pink astroturf.

The site will also offer modern one and two bed apartments that can be booked for short-term stays in the capital.

The restaurant is backed by a different team of investors to Norwich vegan members’ club Erpingham House, which launched in April, with Companies House records showing Henry Meek to be the director of the restaurant despite it having been founded by Blake.