Perseverance pays off

The chance of calling the shots himself lured Richard McLellan away from London's top kitchens. Tessa Fox tracked him down to Holborn in London and his new domain, the Perseverance pub.

It was the attraction of doing something for himself that tempted chef Richard McLellan into a partnership with Billy Drew and his company, BD London, last autumn. Until that time, McLellan had worked almost exclusively in some of London's top fine-dining restaurants, but Drew's plans to develop a run-down pub in Bloomsbury and offer good food and good service in a traditional pub environment interested McLellan.

Clearly, food at the Perseverance pub is a cut above the average pub fare, but both McLellan and Drew are adamant that they don't want their business to be burdened with the gastropub tag. "I don't want to be cutting-edge at all," says McLellan. While Drew, unashamedly, chips in: "We wanted to create a traditional pub. We didn't want loud music or bright colours, but it's not a boozer either."

At first glance, the Perseverance has retained the hallmarks of a traditional pub, with dark colours, chandeliers and flock wallpaper. It opened properly at the end of April, although Drew had secured it on a tenancy back in November. "When we took it on it was awful, but we kept it going while we thought what to do, then shut down in March to refurbish," Drew explains.

Drew himself had turned his back on the world of clubs and bars to focus on pubs and was already working with finance director Patrick Marling when McLellan joined BD London to create the three-way partnership. The BD London threesome worked on the interior of the pub with help from a theatre designer friend. "We found the original flock wallpaper and animal heads for the walls," says Drew. "It's all mix and match. The banquettes make it more comfortable but the wallpaper and the heads are a bit tongue-in-cheek."

So far, the pub's food and decor seem to be going down well. Already, the food has found enough of a following to force Drew to open a 25-seat upstairs dining room, bringing total seating capacity to 70, earlier than planned. The pub is attracting an average spend per head of £18 for three courses excluding drinks. "I didn't expect the pub to be as strong as this so quickly," he says. "I think it's the backlash against bars that has been going on for the past 18 months. They can charge £10 for a drink, so people are coming back to pubs."

Most popular on the weekly changing lunch menu, which has four starters, five main courses, and three puddings plus cheese, are the Caesar salad (£3.95) and the smoked salmon and quails' egg salad (£4.50). McLellan says: "Smoked salmon is nice on its own, the quails' eggs are simple but nicely cooked and the dish is served with sourdough bread. I'd like to smoke my own salmon. You can add flavours and it really makes a difference.

"Just because I'm cooking in a pub doesn't mean the menu has to be steak and kidney pie or sausage and mash," he adds. "Standards can still be very high, although I have had to rethink my whole approach - no more foie gras or truffles."

Of the main courses at lunch, the risotto with pecorino, peas and mint (£8) is proving a popular summertime dish, as is the smoked haddock with poached egg and mustard hollandaise (£8.50). Meat options include peppered sirloin steak with watercress salad and béarnaise sauce (£11.95); and fillet of pork with carrots, mash and sage (£9).

Only 30-40% of lunchtime customers take a pudding (all priced at £3.50), so McLellan avoids perishable dishes, offering instead an iced vanilla parfait with pineapple (see recipe, page 56), coffee panna cotta, or chocolate fondant with white chocolate and orange sorbet. Cheeses are British and might include a Cornish Yarg, Double Gloucester, and an Irish blue.

Puddings are carried over into the dinner menu and there is also some crossover with the starters and mains, as McLellan is reluctant to carry stock. The baby chicken, button mushrooms and celeriac (£9.50, see recipe) has been popular. "It's a lovely, light summer dish: the chicken is tender and there's a light broth with great flavour," says McLellan. The salmon with asparagus, new potatoes, peas and mint (£8.50) is also a favourite, as is the roast cod with wild mushrooms and mashed potato (£9).

All the chefs for whom he has worked have clearly inspired McLellan, who developed a taste for cooking under Sam Chalmers at Chimneys restaurant in Long Melford, Suffolk, before moving to London in 1995. His culinary background includes 18 months at Daphne's, two years with the Novelli Group at Maison Novelli, the now-closed Les Saveurs and W8, as well as stints at the Michelin-starred Aubergine, where he worked under Billy Drabble, and at Marco Pierre White's Mirabelle under Martin Caws.

"The most enjoyable person to work with was Billy [Drabble]. He's extremely good at his job and I think he deserves a second star. I learnt a lot about flavour from Jean-Christophe [Novelli] and Mirabelle turned out amazing food. I've taken ideas from all their menus but I've tried to adapt dishes to my own taste and style."

Drew has teamed up with Bibendum on the wine list and has developed a reputation for good wine, having decided to spend a little more on the house wine. "We bought at just under £3 a bottle as opposed to around £2.40 but we've got house wines that people really enjoy and we do about six cases a week, which is crazy for a little pub like this." The house wines, a Chilean Chardonnay and Argentinian Mendoza, are sold by the glass (£2.50 or £3.50 depending on size) or by the bottle (£10.50).

Drew is now looking around for his next pub with a view to having six or seven in five years' time. "I'd like to go to south-west London and we're looking at a place on Essex Road in Islington. There's no formula to what we're doing but each one of us focuses on his particular skills. I run the pub, Patrick does the finance and Richard cooks. If everyone does their job correctly, I think we've got a very successful formula."

The Perseverance, 63 Lamb's Conduit Street, London WC1N 3NB. Tel: 020 7405 8278