Ashley Palmer-Watts joins the Devonshire pub as co-founder

Ashley Palmer-Watts has been named as the third co-founder of the Devonshire pub ahead of its launch in London’s Soho on 3 November.

 

The chef, who spent 20 years working at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck Group, has joined Oisín Rogers and Charlie Carroll on the project.

 

Rogers was formerly the landlord of the lauded Guinea Grill pub in London while Carroll founded steak restaurant group Flat Iron in 2013.

 

The trio have restored a building just off Piccadilly Circus that first opened as an inn in 1793 into a downstairs pub and upstairs restaurant.

 

Palmer-Watts has spent over a year developing the menus, which focus on British pub classics, while the kitchen is to be overseen by chef Jamie Guy, former group head chef for Mark Hix.

 

The downstairs pub will serve bacon sandwiches; house-made sausage on a stick for £2, and pints of Rogers’ “fastidiously poured” Guinness.

 

There will be regular live Irish music and, as an independent freehouse, it will offer a wide range of drinks, starting from £4.95 for a pint of Becks.

 

The upstairs restaurant will cover two floors and a roof terrace and centre around a three-metre-long wood ember grill, with dishes set to include duck fat chips, beef cheek, and a Guinness suet pudding.

 

As part of a bid to make the pub accessible to all, the restaurant will offer a set menu with three courses for less than £30 for lunch and dinner.

 

Carroll said: "We wanted to create the pub we wished existed in Soho, where all are welcome and hospitality and quality runs through everything we do.”

 

There will be space space for more than 5,000 steaks in the pub’s on-site aging chamber, and the team will make use of Iberico pork farmed by the Ledbury chef Brett Graham.

 

Rogers said: "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."

 

Palmer-Watts, who left the Fat Duck Group in 2020, announced last month he was returning to the UK restaurant scene to oversee the launch of a restaurant, wine bar, café and bakery in Cobham, Surrey next spring.