Russell Norman to open Ape & Bird pub offering hearty all day dining
Russell Norman and Richard Beatty (pictured) are to take over the Marquis of Granby in London's Cambridge Circus and relaunch it as the Ape & Bird pub.
The Polpo, Polpetto, Spuntino and Mishkin's founders will open the pub in October, keeping its pub identity while offering hearty British all day eating, bar snacks and a range of craft beer.
Russell Norman told Caterer and Hotelkeeper: "We're not looking to reinvent the wheel. We've taken on a great pub and we'll operate it like a pub but with a very strong all day food offer. It's an opportunity to take on a boozer and focus on what boozers do right.
"Diners can expect oysters just as you would get in a 20th century Irish boozer. We're also really keen to get some great nursery comfort dishes on the menu too and chef director Tom Oldroyd and I are working on mince and dumplings, panhaggarty, a baked dish of layered potatoes and corned beef from the North East, and some other surprises too. It's the sort of food that I like to eat."
With culinary influences from Britain and beyond, the menu at the 120 cover site will also feature Scotch egg with celeriac fries, devilled kidneys on toast, blood pudding hash, spouts and soft-boiled egg, and whole poached trout with cobnuts and watercress.
Meanwhile craft beers from the UK and USA will be on offer, along with a pale ale on tap from Camden Brewery.
The site has been created by knocking through the smaller Marquis of Granby to an office building next door, creating 5,000 ft sq of pub space. It will be designed by Norman and feature a mural by Soho artist Neil Fox in the first floor Soho room.
Norman added: "We want to open a fantastic, innovative, energetic operation that still reflects what a pub should be. I'm not an enthusiastic pub user and what we're doing is building a pub for people who don't necessarily like pubs. It'll be a lot softer and a lot friendlier."
