Ashley Palmer-Watts named as co-founder of The Devonshire
The former The Fat Duck executive chef will open the new venue in partnership with co-founders Oisin Rogers and Charlie Carroll.
Rogers, formerly of The Guinea Grill, and Carroll, who founded steakhouse group Flat Iron in 2012, announced earlier this year that they had taken on the former Coqbul and Jamie’s Italian site on Soho’s Denman Street to open a multi-storey pub and restaurant.
The Devonshire will feature a ground floor pub with space for 150 people and then three dining rooms with space for a further 150 covers. The downstairs pub will serve a bar menu that will include snacks such as scotch eggs, bacon sandwiches and a sausage on a stick while the upstairs dining rooms will all serve the same menu, the hero of which will be steaks and chops cooked over embers in a bespoke grill.
The venue will honour the building’s history as a pub since 1793 and is described by the pair as being a place for locals. “We are really making an effort to ingrain ourselves with the people who live and work locally so there’s a place where they can come and stand at the bar and talk to somebody like minded, which is the essence of a pub anyway,” says Rogers.
“I have always thought I had the dream job, making people happy and serving beautiful pints and fantastic food, but I was always doing it for other people. Now, I finally have my own place and am working with brilliant partners in Charlie and Ash. The food will be incredible, and we will have the best pint of Guinness in the UK. We can’t wait to open our doors and welcome you.”
The Devonshire will open Friday (3 November). A roof terrace will open in 2024.
It will be the first restaurant project from Palmer-Watts since leaving Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, the opening of which he oversaw in 2011.
The former The Fat Duck Group executive chef announced earlier this month that he will open a multi-venue restaurant in Surrey next year. Described as a ‘unique collection of openings’, The Garden Cobham will be a 35-cover high-end restaurant with additional seating on a garden terrace, a 52-seat wine bar, a café, and a bakery, all set around a courtyard.
The Garden Cobham will launch in the spring with the rooms to follow at a later date.
