Once a former Victorian coal store in the middle of King’s Cross, now a buzzing new shopping and dining district, there’s a lot to discover in Coal Drops Yard. Who better to get the inside scoop on the area from than some of the people, brands and businesses that call Coal Drops Yard home? We spoke to Tom from Kitchen Provisions about Japanese knives, gin blending kits and eating at Coal Drops Yard.
Tell us what Kitchen Provisions is about and what you do there?
We want to bring some of the excitement and innovation of the London food scene to the equipment used to create amazing dishes. The core of our business is kitchen knives, primarily Japanese, and building out from there we stock a wide range of kitchen kit from small innovative producers alongside ceramicists and London designer makers. The most popular products we have had in recently include an amazing gyuto knife from up and coming blacksmith Yu Kurosaki, a spun iron baking cloche for cooking sourdough from Netherton Foundry, and beautiful handpainted fig and pomegranate dishes from Yasmin Falahat. We want to show people things that they can’t get everywhere and won’t have seen before but which are also functional, beautiful and priced sensibly.
You guys offer workshops in your Coal Drops Yard shop, can you tell us more about these?
Japanese knives are beautiful bits of equipment but, as with any knives, they need some care and maintenance. A big part of our ethos is making sure that people are able to do this and therefore offer a sharpening service and also teach you how to sharpen knives on Japanese whetstones. We run both group and individual sessions and are confident that we can show you the basics and get you keeping your knives in tip-top conditions. These lessons make perfect presents for chefs or keen cooks.
There are lots of amazing things to purchase in-store, and we especially like the ‘kits’ you put together. What are some of the most popular kits and what’s your fave?
We sell a lot of kits online but the most popular kits in-store are the ones to make your own blend of gin. The kits contain the ingredients and know how and it only takes 24 hours to do. Once you’ve mastered the gin, we also do a sloe gin kit and a barrel to age cocktails and whisky.
If you could live out your dream day in Coal Drops Yard, what would this entail?
For us, one of the big bonuses of spending time at Coal Drops Yard is getting to eat our way around the many restaurants. An ideal day of eating would start with coffee from Redemption Roasters, a long lunch at Barrafina working our way through the menu and eating all the croquetas, pre-dinner drinks at House of Cans, then finally aperitifs and a few small plates at Vermuteria. At a push we could also fit in the legendary egg sandwich at Sons + Daughters and some chocolate tasting courtesy of Alain Ducasse. We’d probably then need to go and get a new larger pair of trousers at Universal Works!
Unit 31, Coal Drops Yard, London N1C 4DQ
kitchenprovisions.co.uk