Sushi for starters... Academy chefs in Highbury Studios learn how to dish the fish

Published: 4th February, 2011
by PETER GRUNER

HOLLOWAY will soon boast Europe’s first sushi school, ready to teach Londoners the difference between “pseudo sushi” and the real dish.

The Sushi Academy, London, due to open in Highbury Studios in March, will be supervised by three-Michelin star chef Hiroyuki Kanda, owner and chef of the Kanda restaurant in Tokyo.

As well as training sushi chefs, it will have a restaurant open to the public.

The Sushi Academy will complement a range of businesses that have opened in Hornsey Street, turning what was once a rundown area into a thriving centre for food, arts and the media.

In April, the Studios will be become a huge gallery, with hundreds of contemporary works on show at an exhibition.

Driving the regeneration is property developer Antony Spencer, who spearheaded the move by Arsenal from Highbury Stadium to the Emirates at Ashburton Grove. 

Originally a part of the Arsenal redevelopment, Highbury Studios contains 525 flats, all occupied, and 130,000 square feet of office space, of which 30,000 feet are still unfilled.

A recent addition to the complex is Sacred Coffee shop, runner-up in a competition for the capital’s best brew, judged by Time Out magazine.

Mr Spencer said: “It was a personal choice of mine to have Sacred set up an outlet in the Studios. I like their coffee.”

Lettings agent Ashley Wogman, who helped organise last year’s street art festival at the Studios, said the April exhibition will be the biggest and best ever, with art on view in offices and on the street.

“Every available space will have art,” he added. “The aim is to make Hornsey Street the artistic hub of the borough.”

Other new arrivals are three dimensional pavement artists Three D Joe and Max, who have a commercial art studio off Hornsey Street.

Jane Davies, a member of the team, said:  “We love it here. It’s a good atmosphere and it’s nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of Soho.”

At Heart Productions, an event and design consultancy employing nine full-time staff, Tim Stafford, production manager, said of the location: “It’s a fantastic transport hub and very contemporary and vibrant. 

“A really nice area to work in.”

The Studios include an NHS clinic, state-run nursery, private gym, film studios, beauty parlour and a Tesco Express.