Ex-Noma chef Tom Sellers to open own restaurant, Story

08-Jan-2013 - Last updated on 27-Apr-2021 at 07:40 GMT

Tom Sellers' first restaurant, which is backed by Adam Byatt, will open on Tooley Street next month

Tom Sellers, the 25-year-old British chef who has racked up experience working with Tom Aikens, Thomas Keller and Rene Redzepi, is set to open his first restaurant on London's Tooley Street next month.

The restaurant, to be named Story, will open on the site of a former Bermondsey toilet block, which has been knocked down and rebuilt to create a 40-cover restaurant with a small bar area which will serve 'smart British beverages'.

Sellers, who ran a popular two-day pop-up called Foreword in Bethnal Green in November 2011, plans to serve British dishes at his restaurant which he said are 'ingredient-led and steeped in history'.

"They are simplistic in idea, yet technical in execution, with a bit of youthful fun thrown into the mix," he told BigHospitality.

Why now?

Since returning from a stint working with Redzepi at Noma last year, Sellers has been working with Adam Byatt of Trinity while searching for his own site.

Byatt, who opened his second restaurant, Bistro Union, in Clapham last year, is also one of four shareholders in the project, who include Sellers and two property developers.

Having managed to raise the funds for the restaurant and found a suitable site, Sellers said he felt now was the right time to open something permanent and 'fulfill a lifelong dream', rather than continue to find his feet through pop-up projects.

"I chose to open my restaurant now, because I felt that I had found myself in food and wanted to be able to cook it for all who wanted to eat it," he said. "Permanent to me shows commitment, confidence and belief in yourself. I think continuously popping-up loses conviction after a while."

"[The restaurant] has been built from the ground up as a brand new build, so it's great to have a blank canvas to work with, but it also makes everything a bigger and tougher challenge."

The chef said diners could expect to see evidence of his time spent with Aikens, Keller, Redzepi and Byatt in his food, but that the restaurant would certainly have his own stamp firmly placed on it.

"I think all the other restaurants I have worked in will have some influence in Story, but the restaurant will forge its own path," he said.

UPDATE: Story will open on 16 April, a reservations line, for reservations in April and May only, will open on 9 March.