The Lampery restaurant to open in Apex Hotel City this September

The restaurant takes its name - and indeed spelling - from ‘the lampery pye’ mentioned in famous Seething Lane resident Samuel Pepys’ diary - where he describes the lamprey-filled pie as a delicacy ‘most rare’.

The kitchen will be led by Edward Smith who will serve a predominantly British menu with nods to London. Signature dishes will include the London Particular, a thick pea and ham soup inspired by the ‘peasouper’ fogs that used to engulf London, and The Lampery Pye (pictured), a take on the dish so admired by Pepys that, rather than containing the eel-like fish, is made with slow braised beef cheeks and prunes.

Smaller plates served in the restaurant’s bar and terrace will include ‘rarebit’ crumpet bread, treacle pickled quail’s eggs, black pepper and thyme sausage rolls with homemade ketchup and white asparagus with almond mayonnaise.

The restaurant’s cocktail menu will further take inspiration from entries in Pepys’ diary, with new takes on classic cocktails including: The Red Snapper, a Bloody Mary made with Jensen gin and topped with clamato juice; and Not Your Pepys’s Manhattan, a combination of Woodford Reserve, Jim Beam, Licor 43, Martini Rosso and orange bitters.