Knave of Clubs: Patrick Powell to oversee menu at relaunched pub

Camberwell Arms co-founder James Dye has teamed up with chef Patrick Powell and former JKS Restaurants director Benjy Leibowitz to revive a historic Shoreditch venue.

The trio will reopen the grade II-listed Knave of Clubs as a pub on 27 February for the first time in over 30 years.

The Knave of Clubs was founded in 1880 and served traders at the nearby Club Row bird market. After closing in the 1980s, it traded as French restaurant Les Trois Garcons until the mid-2000s.

Now the four-storey pub is relaunching as the first site for High Note Hospitality, a new group founded by Dye and Leibowitz which plans to launch several “multi-concept venues in remarkable buildings cross London” over the next few years.

Dye is also behind Frank’s bar in Peckham and small-plates restaurant Bambi in London Fields. Leibowitz spent a decade in New York with NoMad hotels and was director of strategic projects at JKS Restaurants.

Food at the Knave of Clubs will be led by culinary director Powell, who was previously head chef at the Chiltern Firehouse. This will be his first major project since he left London’s Midland Grand Dining Room and Allegra restaurants last year.

His menu will be centred around a rotisserie grill with dishes inspired by French markets and the traditional British Sunday lunch.