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Yesterday, we were among the first to break the news that a restaurant specialising in crisps might be about to open in Soho. And we’ve since had it officially confirmed that – yes, that is definitely happening.
Here’s what we know.
Hipchips is set to open at the end of October on 49 Old Compton Street, and is, according to their press team, ‘setting out to reinvent the potato crisp’. How will it achieve this noble feat? By serving up crisps on a conveyor belt, for one.
Not only will you be able to watch the crisps trundle by before your eyes, you’ll also be able to see them being prepared and cooked as you wait.
This deep-fried venture is led by head chef Scott Davis – an actual proper chef (and presumably, snack fanatic) with a background at restaurants including Providores in Marylebone, and Fifty St James. The crisps will be made from five fancy British potato varieties, all grown in the north of England.
Davis has created dips (which will cost £4.50 each) that will include Katsu Curry, Moroccan Yoghurt and Pickled Onion Cheese Fondue. Hipchips will serve sweet dips, too – including Chocolate Salted Caramel, Nutella, and Cheesecake flavours, which will be paired with crisps dusted with cinnamon sugar. Crisp-dip combos will change on a regular basis and according to what’s in season.
You’ll also be able to buy booze as well – because obvs.
Is this crisp restaurant just what London, and the UK as a whole, needs? Could crisps be the gel that binds us back together? Or is a crisp restaurant, as our Time Out Beijing editor Lee Williamson said when he got wind of this news, ‘one of the seven signs of the apocalypse’?
Time will tell.