Bromley town centre is in the midst of huge change, with a snatch of new restaurants opening shortly and cinemas on the way. What’s On’s JIM PALMER got a sneak at the developments at intu shopping centre…

The new restaurants

Opening in time for summer, intu has built a swanky new restaurant terrace which is accessible from the High Street and facing out onto the greenery of Queen’s Garden.

The casual dining offering includes Wagamama, Bryon, Giraffe, Ed’s Easy Diner and newcomer Project Pie. Each one’s front windows open up for al fresco dining.

Family-owned Project Pie lets its customers choose between 30 toppings and see the pizza made (on homemade dough) before their eyes.

It is a brand that’s been brought across from the US and its award-winning proof-of-concept restaurant opened in Dundee last year, which may sound like an odd place to open but then again it is the same town McDonalds first opened in too.

Co-owner Susan Canavan, who grew up in Bromley, said: “It is a theatrical experience. Your pizza can be prepare and out of the oven in three minutes.”

Why it is good news for what’s already there

The new restaurants are expected to boost the town’s nighttime economy and draw the millennials back from central London and from July 4, intu will be open until 7pm daily (except Thursdays when it remains open until 9pm).

The car parks will be open until midnight and cost £1 from 6pm (again, not Thursdays) to encourage people to come to the town centre.

Obviously, that’s good news for shoppers and shop owners and existing food outlets like Carluccio’s and Gianfranco Zola’s ice cream parlour Unico.

With the new restaurant terrace bringing more people to Queen’s Gardens, it spells good news for Belgo – one of the centre’s tucked-away older gems which sells more than 50 varieties of beer, each with their own unique glass.

The location of the new restaurants should link them up with the recently revamped Bromley North as well as giving theatregoers somewhere else to eat and shop before a show.

Sustainability

The new restaurant terrace at intu features a sky garden with sixty tonnes of earth and forty tonnes of shingle brought in by one of the largest cranes in Europe.

It will have 295 solar panels in seven locations and a beekeeping group will keep a special breed of non-aggressive bees on the roof.

More for the rest of town

Intu’s restaurant terrace is just part of the scheme to transform Bromley. Plans are afoot to move the market out of the High Street and up to Market Square, making the High Street itself more of a boulevard and creating a café culture.

A multiplex cinema is planned for Bromley South and intu intends to open a more luxury 50-seat cinema too.

Bromley Council’s portfolio holder for renewal and recreation, councillor Peter Morgan said: “This is the latest step in our desire to make Bromley the best town in the south of London.

“We know we have got competition eventually coming to Croydon, we want to make Bromley the destination of real choice. This is a really important step along the way.”

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