Ben Tish to join Cubitt House as chef director

Cubitt House has announced the appointment of a new executive team to develop and expand its portfolio of pubs in central London, with Ben Tish joining as chef director.

The new team, which also sees Sam and Georgie Pearman join as directors and co-chairs, will oversee the refurbishment of the group’s six sites as well as a series of acquisitions and renovations of pubs in London.

It was announced earlier this month that Tish was stepping down from his position as culinary director of the Stafford London and Norma after three years in the role. Tish joined the Stafford in 2018 to oversee the five-red-AA-star, 105-bedroom hotel's food offer as well as launch several new independent restaurants. He oversaw the opening of Norma in Fitzrovia, inspired by the food and culture of Sicily, in 2019.

In his new role, he has been tasked with ensuring each pub has a distinctive identity reflected in the menus. While some venues will take inspiration from his Mediterranean background, others will serve more classic chophouse and pub fare. Tish will oversee menu development at each Cubitt House property and work alongside openings head chef Richard Sandiford.

The first focus for the new Cubitt House team will be the Coach Makers Arms in Marylebone. The pub will continue operating as a traditional pub on the ground floor with a 60-cover classically British restaurant on the first floor, offering a chophouse-style menu. On the lower ground floor will be a 50-cover cocktail bar.

Four more projects are already planned for next year including the launch of the Princess Royal in Notting Hill in Spring 2022, refurbishments of the Alfred Tennyson in Belgravia, the Orange in Pimlico, and the opening of the Barley Mow in Mayfair.

The Pearmans own Cotswold-based boutique hotel and restaurant group Country Creatures and were founders of the Lucky Onion hotel and restaurant group. Sam Pearman will focus on the operational side of the business while Georgie will take charge of the redevelopment of the existing portfolio and the new sites, the design of each property and oversee the marketing.

Meanwhile, Montana Fogg restaurant consultancy founders Seb Fogg and Laura Montana will also join the Cubitt House team with Fogg as managing director and Montana as openings director. As consultants they have supported the opening of restaurants including Sexy Fish, the Delaunay and Isabel Mayfair.

Sam Pearman said: “After such a challenging period for our industry, it’s a thrilling prospect to be working alongside the best in the business and to be tasked with creating something special at some of London’s most iconic pubs but also to be growing the company over the next few years with more central London properties.”

Georgie Pearman added: “It feels great to be thinking about and planning the growth of Cubitt House, given the challenging times our industry has faced in recent years. We are excited to be welcoming more to our team and will be recruiting heavily over the next few months for the new openings in Spring and Summer 2022. We’ll be looking for lots of passionate chefs and front of house to join the team.”