Grain Store (Closed Permanently)

Part of the seismic reinvention of the area behind King's Cross – definitely worth a look when you're eating here or not – this splashy, vegetarian-über-friendly venture is the work of seasoned Bordeaux-born London chef Bruno Loubet and the Zetter Group's Michael Benyan and Mark Sainsbury [see entry for Zetter hotel], together with experimental cocktail maestro Tony Conigliaro. A section of this sprawling former Victorian warehouse complex entertained gay ravers in the 1990s (as Bagleys Warehouse), and the move in 2011 of art school Central Saint Martins to these premises signalled a radical shift in the area's identity. The newly devised privately owned public space connecting Grain Store, the art school and other establishments (many still to arrive) is called Granary Square, with an eye-catching fountain 'installation' and pleasing city views among the worthwhile diversions while you wait for your table at the ever buzzy restaurant. Loubet's food is colourful, clean and playfully adventurous, with 'courgette, broad bean & prawn falafel' a good example of his flavour and texture tweakings. The space feels vast but with a warm take on retro industrial, and definitely buzzy. Cocktails are a big thing here, as can be the bill if you're not careful. Budget-loving consumers might opt for several starters to share, then skip to dessert. If you want to be on the pulse (and eat them too), then this place might be for you. Opened June 2013. Sadly, Loubet announced that the restaurant will close on 23 August 2017.