The large corner unit at 36-40 Queenstown Road was for well over a decade home to Le Pot Lyonnais, a neighbourhood bistro offering classic Ferench fare done to high standard. In early 2024 the restaurant had a comprehensive refit and relunched as Mistral – while still focussing on the best of French food. It got off to a strong start, but sadly the restaurant suddenly closed after just a few months in May, following the death of owner Patrick.

The landlord has now split the site in to three smaller shops. Some are currently still to let (the middle one is currently to let for about £20k a year), but the left hand one will soon be opening as Corecore Pizzeria. Their core product is very much the traditional Neapolitan pizza, with the sides and extras you might expect. Owners Giovanni and Carmen of Corecore aren’t starting from nothing – they’ve been trading locally for the last two years, from a ‘dark kitchen’ at the nearby business centre on Ingate Place, which hosts quite a variety of businesses who solely sell food via delivery apps. They’re well reviewed – and have also got a solid 5 hygiene rating from the Food Standards Agency. Of course they’re not the first Neapolitan pizzeria (and have the formidable competition of consistent top performer Pizzeria Pellone) – but it’s fair to say demand for good pizza seems to be very large in Lavender Hill.

Moving from a dark kitchen to a full restaurant is quite a common way for businesses to grow – we have seen a fair few do this on Lavender Hill over the years, including Remedy Kitchen who started out in an industrial unit near the heliport, as well as several non-food businesses who have ‘graduated’ from smaller premises within the Battersea Business centre as they have grown. For food businesses moving from a dark kitchen to an actual high street premises brings new costs – but also gives the business a lot more profile and visibility, and aloows for the more profitable options of in-house dining, as well as customer collections. Delivery apps typically take a cut of a third of the restaurant’s takings (in addition to what the customer pays for the delivery), so even with a 10-15% collection discount there’s still a better margin for the restaurant if some local customers come and collect in person (and it’s also why prices on delivery apps can sometimes be higher than on takeaway menus, and menus restricted to the more profitable items).

We look forward to Corecore’s new venture opening – which is planned for the 1st May. We’ll keep you posted on what happens to the other two units next door.

Corecore Pizzeria, 40 Queenstown Road, London SW8 3RY. Planned opening is the 1st May (though they’re already trading via deliveroo and Just Eat from Ingate Place). We post from time to time on developments in the Lavender Hill area of Battersea, London – if you found this of interest you may want to see our other recent posts on retail and on food and drink in the area, or to sign up to receive new posts by email. And if you’ve got tips or insights on any of the areas we cover – get in touch and let us know!