Cooking regulations set to thwart Itta pizza restaurant - Owner unable to use open flames in kitchens

Published: 03 February 2011
by DAN CARRIER

DO you cook a pizza, or is it a simple matter of heating up a disc of dough topped with tomato sauce and cheese?

This simple question is at the centre of a row that could force an independent Kentish Town pizza restaurant to close its oven doors.

Itta, which opened in June 2009 in Kentish Town Road, has been told cooking pizzas in ground-floor ovens breaks planning guidelines. Due to a quirk in the building’s history, the two-floor premises is classified at the Town Hall’s planning department as “A1” on the ground floor, which means retail, and “A3” on the first floor – which is the code for restaurants and cafés.

This means Itta’s chefs can only heat things up, as happens at nearby Pret A Manger and Subway, while on the first floor they can fire up the stove, and chop, sauté, fry and griddle.

Itta owner Ron Oruchi warned he is facing closure after an appeal against the classifications failed two weeks ago.

He said: “We argued that what we do on the ground floor is not cooking, it is heating up, and therefore we should be allowed to continue to stay open. We have been supported by local people over this.”

Mr Oruchi  said he was aware of the planning issues when he took over the business two years ago. The previous business, Café Euromed, ran into similar problems. Mr Oruchi said: “When we took it over we got legal advice and asked Camden Council about this. We were told to apply for planning permission.”

But when they applied, their application was refused – and then an appeal was turned down too.

“The kitchen upstairs is much smaller,” said Mr Oruchi. “We are left with the choice of trying to move the ovens upstairs, which is expensive and impractical, or close and find a buyer, which is now the only real option.”

While the restaurant has been supported by customers, civic group Kentish Town Road Action (KTRA) have said it must play the rules. The group had argued that the application should be turned down as the street has a 75 per cent rule, stating that retail – A1 units – must not drop below the level. If Itta was re-classified, the road would fall below this figure for shops. The group also believe that if it were granted a full A3 licence, the owners would be able to sell it on for a huge profit to a chain restaurant such as Kentucky Fried Chicken. With a McDonald’s and Nandos on the street already, the aim is to keep the independents alive. 

KTRA chairwoman Caroline Hill said: “The point is Itta and Café Euromed were cooking on an open flame, which you are not allowed to do in A1 units. Itta’s owners were well aware of this before they moved in. They knew what the rules were but they still put their ovens downstairs.”

She added: “Our view is to keep as many A1 units available as possible. 

“There are enough places to eat in Kentish Town.”

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