River Cottage Deli confirms permanent site at ExCel London

The River Cottage Deli, from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, is to become permanent at exhibition venue ExCel London, after its successful pop-up earlier this year.

The site, which officially opened on 3 September in tandem with ExCel London’s partner Levy Restaurants UK, forms part of the £15m investment from ExCel London Hospitality to offer a new range of restaurants and food and drink outlets in a bid to improve the venue’s visitor experience.

An offshoot of the Devon-based restaurant of the same name, the River Cottage Deli offers a range of homemade and organic dishes, using British, local and seasonal produce, prepared by ExCel Hospitality chefs.

Typical dishes include hot sandwiches such as focaccia and baps filled with merguez meatballs, treacle-cured beef and beetroot pakoras, alongside a range of fresh salads.

All ingredients used can be traced back to their source, such as the salmon, which comes from Wester Ross in Scotland and is then smoked at ExCel London itself.

Steven Lamb from River Cottage said: “Sharing our passion for sustainable food integrity and the consumption of local, seasonal organic produce is what underpins the River Cottage experience. We are delighted to open the new Deli at ExCeL London and create and share our values with visitors while giving them a little taste of the original River Cottage.”

Levy Restaurants UK – the sports, leisure and hospitality section of caterers Compass Group UK and Ireland ‒ delivers the catering and food concepts at ExCel London, which is located in London’s Royal Docks. In the venue’s 14-year history, it has hosted over 4,500 exhibitions and events, with visitor numbers over 24 million.