10/10/14 - Updated with soft launch details.
If you like a bit of history with your pint, then the reopening of Crocker's Folly in St John's Wood will be of interest.
Built in 1898 as the palatial Crown Hotel by entrepreneur Frank Crocker the pub was intended to serve travellers on the Great Central Railway. But when the railway terminus was sited at Marylebone rather than St John's Wood, the money sunk into the site suddenly didn't seem quite such an amazing investment. Nevertheless it served locals for over a century until closing in 2004. Three year later the Victorian Society put it on their top 10 endangered buildings list by the Victorian Society.
This year it was bought by The Maroush Group of restaurants and they're determined to do the building proud. They've brought in head chef, Arek Bober who's just been at Pollen Street Social, before which he headed up the kitchen at Portobello Gold adn before that Fresh & Wild’s central kitchen.
Bober's menu will combine ontemporary Lebanese dishes with more seasonal ones including:
- crab gnocchi, courgettes and chilli
- beef tartare with charred, pickled onions and chanterelles
- sea bass with cauliflower couscous, cauliflower purée and truffle
- miso marinated lamb shoulder, kale and potato mousseline
- pork belly with butternut squash and Sichuan coleslaw
There'll also be a range of steaks cooked on the Josper grill with cuts including 28 day aged sirloin or bavette or 35 day aged côte de boeuf.
The interior at Crocker's Folly will be split into three - a large bar in the front with its own bar menu, a restaurant in the middle, a more intimate dining room at the back and a large outside terrace.
Crocker’s Folly will open on 22 October 2014 at 23–24 Aberdeen Place, St John's Wood, London, NW8 8JR. There's a soft launch from 22-24 October with 50% off food. To book - email reservations@crockersfolly.com.
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