Opening on Old Street in Shoreditch on 28th April, Tavern is a new British bistro from the team behind Nest and the Michelin-starred and Green Star Restaurant St Barts. Inspired by the warmth and familiarity of pub culture, Tavern will channel the buzzy energy of a great local whilst serving refined, bistro-style food.
Taking over the former Nest site, the space will be reimagined with a clean, cosy bistro feel. Upon entering, a large kitchen counter clad in black slate wraps around the open kitchen, forming the heart of the room. Guests can sit at the bar for a glass of wine and a few nostalgic snacks while watching the kitchen at work. The interior features a restrained palette of black and off-white, and the dining room will be set with white tablecloths and candlelight.
The kitchen will be headed up by Executive Chef Brendan Appleby, whose previous experience includes Inver, Silo and Lyles, and who has served as Head Chef at Restaurant St Barts for the past two years. Appleby will oversee the kitchen alongside Johnnie Crowe, working closely with Head Chef Kirsty Easterbrook, formerly Sous Chef at Restaurant St Barts. Together they will bring the ethos that defined Nest and now Restaurant St Barts, maintaining close relationships with farmers, fishermen and growers across the UK while adapting the cooking into a more relaxed and accessible format.
The menu will change regularly with a small number of daily specials, focusing on seasonal British produce, whole animal butchery and dishes cooked over fire. To begin, guests can enjoy snacks such as devilled pig skin with smoked cod’s roe, hogget scrumpets with mint, or the Tavern sausage served with curry sauce in a nod to chip shop classics. Other dishes will include the Chunion ‘puff’ – a cheese and onion-filled gougère – barbecued cuttlefish and pork XO skewers, and British bluefin tuna tostada with Irish wasabi.
For those settling in for dinner, larger plates will include Brixham turbot with English sparkling wine and cobnut sauce, Yew Tree Farm hogget with anchovy and ewe’s curd, and Tamworth pork served nose to tail with cider mustard sauce. For sharing, Welsh Wagyu rib of beef will be served on the bone, with marrow and Dorset snails and set to become a Tavern staple, the crispy veal sweetbread burger makes the perfect tableside accompaniment, or enjoyed at the counter with a freshly poured tankard of beer.
Desserts lean into nostalgic British flavours, from a ‘British Chocolate’ tart with barley ice cream to Todoli lemon sorbet with meringue, Baron Bigod malt loaf with fermented honey and bread and butter pudding ice cream, the kind of dishes that make lingering at the table feel easy.
As with Nest and Restaurant St Barts, the team continues to work closely with a network of exceptional British suppliers, building long-standing relationships with those who share the same commitment to quality, sustainability and careful production. Much of the produce will arrive fresh each morning from trusted partners, including Keltic Seafare and David Lowrie for seafood, Swaledale, Udale, and Alternative Meats for meat, and Shrub for seasonal vegetables and speciality ingredients. The daily changing specials will reflect what arrives that day, guided by seasonality and availability – once they’re gone, they’re gone.
The counter bar will be as much a part of Tavern as the dining room – somewhere to stop for a drink and a few snacks, or just as easily spend the evening over good food and a bottle of wine. Beer will be served in tankards, alongside classic cocktails and a wine list from suppliers including Newcomer and Modal Wines, focused on natural and low-intervention producers. The cocktail list will feature refined takes on familiar classics, with seasonal ingredients preserved through techniques such as infusions, pickling and fat-washing. Highlights include a pickle chilli martini, Tavern’s take on the classic pickleback, pairing a clean, savoury martini with a sharp pickle to finish.
Bookings for Tavern will go live on Monday 30th March.