An email sent out to Mary’s mailing list confirmed that the restaurant was under new ownership, having been acquired by the team behind Motcombs in St John’s Wood.
A website reveals that the site on Pollen Street will reopen later this year as Motcombs Tavern, which is described as being inspired by ‘the historic taverns of London and New York’.
Atherton launched Mary’s in September last year as part of a wider flurry of changes to his London restaurant estate that also included the opening of modern British brasserie Sael on the former Aquavit site in London’s St James’s Market development; neighbourhood-style bistro Three Darlings on Pavilion Road in Chelsea; and high-end restaurant Row on 5 on Savile Row, which he launched with Spencer Metzger, former head chef at The Ritz.
While Pollen Street Social, which closed in July last year having launched in 2011, had a fine dining focus (the restaurant held a Michelin star for more than a decade), Mary’s was positioned as a casual and more accessible grill restaurant and bar.
As well as its main dining room, which served a selection of small plates alongside larger cuts of meat, Mary’s incorporated a 10-seater burger counter and cocktail bar The Blind Pig.
The restaurant had been scheduled to close at the end of 2024 for a four-month refit that would have seen the downstairs area become a dedicated smashed burger bar and speakeasy concept called Meat and Two Veg. However, this never came to fruition.
According to the Mary’s website, The Blind Pig has now relocated to the upper level of Sael.
In a statement, Atherton said: “We have enjoyed running Mary’s since September. It has been fun to execute a far more casual concept on the site that was previously our flagship, Pollen Street Social. Mary’s has been well received by guests and we were fortunate enough to receive amazing reviews from Grace Dent and Tom Parker-Bowles.
“However, we have decided the time is right to let go off this much-loved site, accepting an offer from Motcombs Restaurants as we focus on the next chapter of The Social Company.”
The Motcombs Tavern website says it will serve ‘a refined tavern style menu celebrating traditional British and global fare including Scottish beef, dry aged in house; fresh fish and lobster, as well as Motcombs classics’.
It will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as late night drinks and jazz.