Upmarket Dining

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Spitalfields is a London neighborhood with a dual personality. It borders the financial district, but walk 10 minutes to the east and you hit deprived public-housing projects. The area's focal point is Spitalfields market, founded in 1887 and still going strong, in part [an error occurred while processing this directive] due to the controversial development of the western side. Under an arching transparent canopy, mainstream shops and restaurants, which moved in over the winter, are now doing a brisk trade alongside the established stalls peddling eclectica.

Among the new arrivals, only the restaurant Canteen might appeal to both the bohemian crowd and financial folk. "Is this a chain?" asked my Friday lunch companion. Not yet, but it's easy to imagine blond wood and tweedy green-upholstered clones being assembled out of flat packs across the land. Canteen offers freshly executed traditional British fare — macaroni and cheese, meat pies and all-day breakfasts — served with a mission statement that boasts of the kitchen's organic and local sourcing.

There is a Fast Service menu for those who can only flee their desk for an hour, but we chose comfort food: a skillet of creamy baked eggs with undyed smoked haddock and spring onion, and a chicken-and-tarragon pie with mashed potatoes, greens and gravy. For dessert, we shared the strangely satisfying chocolate-and-beetroot cake. The service was friendly and efficient. But when I returned on a Sunday, the clientele was dressed down, and the staff moved at a far more leisurely pace. Sure beats the office canteen, though.canteen.co.uk