Stevie Parle to open new restaurant in London’s West End next month

Stevie Parle has revealed he is opening a new restaurant, focusing on sustainable British produce, in London’s West End.

The chef behind Pastaio will open the restaurant, called Town, on 12 May on Drury Lane.

Alongside Parle, the kitchen team will consist of executive chef Olly Pierrepont, who was previously head chef of Luca and La Trompette, and head chef Andy Bright, of Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, Saison and Fera, as well as Zinzan Riess-Hollier of Luca and Padella.

Parle intends to forge a relationship with growers by working with farmers who use regenerative methods.

One such partnership is with Andy Cato of Wildfarmed, known for its regeneratively farmed flour. Parle will be the first restaurateur to serve beef from Wildfarmed, from a herd of grass-fed cows raised in Oxfordshire.

The menu at Town will offer dishes such as potato bread with Wildfarmed beef dripping; day boat crudo, tomato water and Todoli grapefruit; and Seasalter clams, sherry and grass-fed butter.

A Rhys Allen charcoal grill will dictate the mains, which will focus on whole-carcass butchery. These will include wood-grilled Romney Marsh hogget with Chianti and anchovy butter; Welsh lobster with lardo and Town XO and a south Indian fish curry to share

Parle said: “Town is the biggest, most ambitious project I’ve ever done. We are helping to pioneer a genuinely new approach to restaurant supply chains, built on knowing every farmer who grows what we cook.

“A team of some of London’s most skilled cooks, great drinks, and slick and friendly service in a fun space, all designed to help you forget the day-to-day — and to remember how good things can be when food, music and good people come together in the right room.”

The chef first hinted about his West End restaurant back in late 2023.

Parle opened his first restaurant, Dock Kitchen, at London’s Portobello Dock in 2009 when he was just 24 years old. It traded for eight years until it closed in 2017.

The chef’s other restaurant projects have included Craft London, Rotorino and Sardine, all of which have since closed.

Parle returned to Portobello Dock to open the Joy restaurant, retail space and music venue with designer Tom Dixon during the pandemic in 2020, but had to vacate the space to make way for another operator in 2021.

The chef is also behind the Pastaio pasta restaurant group, which has a site in Soho.

Photo: Sally Gurteen