The Pelican’s Phil Winser and James Gummer to launch second London gastropub

Phil Winser and James Gummer, who also run The Bull in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, have joined forces with Olivier van Themsche, business and acquisitions for Public House group, for their latest venture.

The pub, which was built in 1878 and was previously known as The Hero of Maida, is currently undergoing a redesign that will strip back and restore the building’s original features and merge them with ‘modern elements’.

“We’re paying homage to the building by stripping it down to its original features and leaving them bare,” explains Winser, who is working with decorative artist Allegra Fitzherbert and furniture restorer Mark Groethe on the restoration.

“The lights and staircase will serve as storytellers, narrating the history of this pub.”

Spread across four floors, the pub will feature a grill room, a library and a private event space alongside the ground floor bar.

Head chef Ed Baillieu will lead the kitchen, which will serve ‘nostalgic pub classics’ on the ground floor including mackerel pâté, and cheese and onion pie.

The grill room will specialise in meats and fish cooked over an open fire and offer dishes such as lamb chops with mint and peas, and four quarter of cod with brown butter.

“Pubs provide the perfect setting for us to demonstrate the incredible produce and farming practices that we have here in the UK, and this continually drives our menus” says Gummer.

Winser and Gummer opened The Pelican in 2022 and The Bull in 2023. The latter is currently ranked at number 50​​ on the Top 50 Gastropubs list.