Fitzrovia has been going from strength to strength recently and another restaurant is looking to continue that trend. Newman Street Tavern will be opening at the end of November serving seasonal British food, with a raw bar to boot.
It's being headed up by Peter Weeden, who's both Head Chef and partner in the restaurant and who previously worked at Paternoster Chop House and Boundary. He's joined by Nigel Sutcliffe (who worked on the opening of The Fat Duck), James McLean and Jerome Armit who were all behind the Henry Root in Chelsea.
Food will be sourced from all over the UK, but they'll also be producing a large amount on-site. This means they'll be maturing and butchering whole carcasses of Galloway beef, venison and Scottish Blackface, hanging game, baking their own bread and pastries all in the Newman Street kitchen.
Outside the kitchen, there will be a ground floor bar which won't take reservations and will have a main feature of a two-metre long, salvaged and restored enamel trough that holds the Tavern's raw bar. That'll be filled with with (depending on the catch) oysters, clams, whelks, cockles, crab, langoustines and sea urchins, all straight from the coast. They'll also be serving hot water crust pork pie and Banbury cakes between lunch and dinner.
Upstairs is a dining room which will be bookable, serving dishes that include hot cockles and laver, devilled rabbit offal, grilled Galloway wing as well as pouting, cucumber and brown shrimps among others. Desserts will include chocolate tart with salted caramel, pear and quince crumble and the aforementioned Banbury cakes.
On top of this, careful attention has also been paid to the wine list combining the well known with select wines from smaller prodicers. Plenty of rare and vintage wines will also be available in 250ml and 500ml pots as well as glasses.
We caught up with Peter Weeden to find out a bit more about the new opening...
What made you decide to open the Newman Street Tavern - and why did you choose Fitzrovia?
Fitzrovia is such a great area, it's always had a reputation for good restaurants but it's just got better and better recently, so why not open there too! We also want to share our love for British produce, preparing it properly and showing that everyone can enjoy these great ingredients, that's hospitality and that's what NST will be about.
How would you describe the food you'll be serving?
Delicious! The food at NST will be seasonal, elegant, simple, British and, I think, considered. Not in a deconstructed way but we take our time to find the best produce and build relationships with suppliers. We trust them that they're delivering the highest quality produce every day.
Can you tell us more about the drinks available in the bar?
The beer will change through the seasons - darker, richer, maltier ales in the winter and in the summer more hoppy and aromatic beers. Cocktails will be traditional - a simple martini with homemade pickles, bloody marys, whisky sours with seville oranges, again, when in season.
Newman Street Tavern opens on November 30 at 48 Newman Street, London W1T 1QQ - tel 020 3667 1445.
