New food and arts venue to open at Somerset House

Coming to the riverside terrace at Somerset House on 8 May is Setlist – a brand-new bar and venue championing live music, DJs, art installations and food from some of London’s most exciting female chefs.

Launching during Somerset House’s milestone 25th birthday year, Setlist will be a platform for creators that represent the breadth of London’s cultural excellence across food, music, and art, all within a bespoke structure offering views across the Thames.

Setlist will join Somerset House’s resident creative community, sharing its ethos of innovation and multi-disciplinary arts. The top team behind the project includes Thomas Kidd (Bar Elba and Luna Springs); James Dye (co-owner of Frank’s in Peckham and music-led wine bar Bambi); Paul Smyth (one half of the artists Something & Son and co-founder of Mission Kitchen and Makerversity, one of Somerset House’s long-standing creative residents); and Clement Ogbonnaya, pub trailblazer and founder of the Prince of Peckham and Queen of the South pubs.

The food

Setlist will bring four female chefs together under one roof to create a unique menu of dishes that represent the best of London. There will also be regular pop-ups, guest chefs, and a BBQ series throughout the summer.

Rising star Opeoluwa is one of the core chefs of The Future Plate, the house of African and Caribbean cuisine and culture, who are residents of Somerset House. Her menu is inspired by growing up in Nigeria and includes plantain fritters with parmesan aioli; jerk chicken skewers with scotch bonnet mango chutney; and African spiced goat croquettes. 

Sophie Wyburd is a cook and author whose latest book, Tucking In, is all about simple, hearty comfort food. Wyburd will team up with Wildfarmed, producers of the UK’s first and only regeneratively farmed flour, to create a menu of pizzette such as the Saucisson, topped with sausage, potato, caramelised onion, rosemary and taleggio, and the Aubergine, topped with smoked aubergine, mozzarella, fermented chilli and tomato sauce and hot honey. 

Andrea Montes Renaud and Laura Copp are the duo behind Masafina, making heritage Mexican ingredients in London, honouring traditional Mexican processes. Their heirloom corn tortillas and salsas are made from ingredients sourced directly from small, regenerative farms in Mexico and their Sonoran style wheat flour tortillas use a British regeneratively grown wheat. Their Setlist menu includes a baja fish taco with Mexican chilli and lime slaw, burnt garlic and habanero mayo; mushroom tostada with salsa macha chilli oil, sun-dried tomatoes, guac and Parmesan; and Mexico City nachos, topped with salsa verde, salsa roja, melted cheese and pulled chicken.

Terri Mercieca is an award-winning pastry chef and founder of Happy Endings. She will serve a rotating selection of soft serve and sorbets, collaborating with each chef for a signature ice cream sundae, available exclusively at Setlist.

At the bar, Setlist will offer local London beers, wines and a line-up of summer cocktails. There will be classic, spicy and mezcal margaritas; frozen mango, hibiscus and blood orange margaritas; and spritzes like the Somerset Spritz, featuring Lilet Blanc, Suze and Somerset cider.

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