Two minutes with Vivek Singh

Vivek Singh has replaced La Perla/El Nivel on Covent Garden’s Maiden Lane with his latest Cinnamon Collection venture, Cinnamon Bazaar. Fully open from tomorrow, this is the most casual sister yet for his Westminster Indian, The Cinnamon Club, with an all-day budget menu and cocktails courtesy of White Lyan’s Ryan Chetiyawardana. We caught up with Vivek to find out more. 

Words: Neil Simpson

Democratic, casual, colourful, cocktails, communal

It’s been almost a year in development; it’s almost an evolution of different ideas from my other restaurants. 

We’re aiming for wide appeal and things that are also easy to replicate. The menu is actually inspired by the journey that people have been taking for hundreds of years, to barter, buy and sell goods; the same route that spices and silks took before that. I’ve found that bazaars have been changing our tastes for years via their influence. For example, naan bread is quintessentially Indian, but it has actually been in India less than 600 years. From Old Delhi to Lahore – there are a lot of dishes that have travelled very far to get to this menu.

Our full chaat selection is six different chaats, three hot and three cold, served on a cart (we’ve called her Chamiya) which is pushed from table to table. All the ingredients and spices will be on it, so diners can customise each however they want. 

How did your partnership with Ryan Chetiyawardana come about?

He has an incredible reputation, so I looked him up. Cocktails are a very specialised thing so in terms of consistency and if we are to have multiple Cinnamon Bazaar sites, we need a quality starting point. I realised that Mr Singh and Mr Lyan [Chetiyawandana’s nickname thanks to White Lyan] mean exactly the same thing in different languages (‘Singh’ means lion in Hindi) so there you go: it was meant to be. 

In the dining room, table number 10 has the best views of the restaurant.

One step at a time… Well, we have plans for more Cinnamon Kitchens around London in 2017 and we’d like to have more Cinnamon Bazaars too, looking further ahead. 

I’d like it to be the most recognisable modern Indian restaurant collection in the world. People travel a fair distance to come to The Cinnamon Club. It’s not an immediate priority to take it to other countries, but that’s what we would like for The Cinnamon Club.