Somewhat unconventionally, the story of Town, chef Stevie Parle’s long-awaited new London restaurant, doesn’t start with the securing of a site or the genesis of a new concept, it begins with cattle. “I had the cows before I had the restaurant,” he says, referring to the Wildfarmed-produced beef that is central to various dishes on Town’s menu and comes from a herd of shorthorn/Angus crosses reared on a 100% grass diet in Oxfordshire. “It all started with the ingredients and came from the need to serve them.”
The partnership with Wildfarmed, the flour-focused regenerative farming outfit whose founders include Andy Cato, best known for being one half of English electronic music duo Groove Armada, typifies what Parle is hoping to achieve with Town. The restaurant will be the first to serve Wildfarmed beef, the fruits of a new agricultural system created by Parle and Cato that has seen Wildfarmed’s regenerative farmers introduce grazing cattle to their arable farms.
For Parle, the hope is that partnerships like this can help pioneer a new kind of relationship that focuses on investing in farmers and growers who follow progressive and regenerative approaches. “It’s the right way of doing things,” he continues. “And I want to be supporting people doing things the right way.
“People talk about their food being ingredient first, but Town is an ingredient first restaurant.”
Ode to JOY
Parle has called Town, which opened earlier this week on Drury Lane in Covent Garden, the ‘biggest, most ambitious project’ of his career. It’s quite a claim, especially given that his previous venture saw him open an entirely alfresco restaurant – hardly a safe bet given the unpredictability of the British weather – in the summer of 2020 amid the height of the Covid pandemic.
Called JOY, it sought to bring some positivity to London’s restaurant sector and the adjacent businesses that relied on it, with Parle partnering with sustainable, forward-looking producers and suppliers including Canterbury-based farm shop and restaurant The Goods Shed. “One of the things I learnt from JOY is how much a restaurant can support an ecosystem of growers. A lot of what I did there in terms of partnerships has been brought forward to here, but we’re taking it a bit more seriously.”
One of the things I learnt from JOY is how much a restaurant can support an ecosystem of growers
Alongside Wildfarmed, Parle has once again partnered with The Goods Shed for Town. There’s also LAM Food & Fibre in Kent, which is supplying hogget, pork and eggs; Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall, whose Mangalitsa pigs will be used for cured meats and sausages; and Lost Valley Dairy in Ireland, which is owned by Parle’s brother Mike and supplies the cheeses for Town.
The partnership with The Goods Shed, in particular, is extensive, with Parle working closely with founder Susanna Sait on planting plans for Town’s vegetable programme. “She is just a legendary person, really,” he says of Sait, who founded The Goods Shed back in 2002. “She’s just been doing it right for so long and is almost under acclaimed for what she’s achieved.”
Parle will source all of Town’s fruit, vegetables and wheat from The Goods Shed, underpinning his commitment to seasonality and sustainability. “This whole process has allowed me to develop a more detailed understanding of how the growing works,” he continues.
“A lot of the obstacle to me in the past when planting crops is that without real skill you end up with glut and gaps, which is a problem when you’re a chef trying to create a menu. But working with [Susanna] helps to deal with that.”
Returning to the fray
Town has notable significance beyond its supplier partnerships. This is Parle’s first opening post pandemic; his restaurant empire having been hit hard by the impact of Covid. Prior to the first lockdown in March 2020, the chef owned British restaurant Craft London in Greenwich, Palatino in Clerkenwell, and French restaurant Sardine in Hoxton, all of which have now closed. Alongside Town, the only restaurant he currently operates is fast casual fresh pasta concept Pastaio, which has a single site in Soho - its second restaurant in Westfield White City another victim of the pandemic having closed in 2022, just two years after its launch.
Given the challenges of the past five years, many no doubt compounded by the ongoing struggles facing the industry such as rocketing costs and plummeting consumer confidence, what’s driving Parle to return to the fray? “I love restaurants, and I always will,” he says, simply. “I love running them and there’s still business to be done in London.
“The environment is tough, and the costs are higher, and that’s why I wanted this big central location. It feels less risky, even with the massive rent, and that makes me feel more comfortable.”
The environment is tough and that’s why I wanted this big central location. It feels less risky, even with the massive rent
Is it harder to open a restaurant now? “Some things are,” he continues. “Particularly the process and the build. Everything takes a lot longer (Town was originally scheduled to open last summer) and costs a lot more money.”
Recruitment, he notes, has been easier than expected which he suggests could be down to both a dearth of big openings in central London currently and the number of high-profile closures in recent months. “I used to open a restaurant a year and would try to do that with 30% the same team, but it was not an option this time and that makes it harder. But I’m fortunate that I have a very good management team behind me, as well as a strong kitchen and front of house.”
A collaborative approach
The menu at Town feels very much apiece with many of Parle’s previous projects, including the likes of Dock Kitchen in Ladbroke Grove (2009-2017) and Hackney’s Rotorino (2013-2018), and applies influences of Italian cooking to seasonal British produce. Smaller plates and starters to feature on the launch menu include potato bread with Wildfarmed beef dripping; tempura sage leaves drizzled in chilli and honey from Parle’s own bees; and East Kent asparagus with Mangalitsa lardo and aged cherry vinegar.
Mains are driven by the kitchen’s prominent Rhys Allen charcoal grill, with dishes created using a whole-carcass butchery approach. Alongside the steaks, signature options include woodland pork with early season onions, burnt apple sauce, hot mustard; Welsh lobster with lardo and Town XO; and a south Indian fish curry to share. Desserts, meanwhile, feature a range of options that can be ordered individually or to share such as morello cherry pie with cherry stone ice cream; and Cru Virunga chocolate with Somerset cider brandy and zabaglione.
Parle describes his vision for the menu at Town as combining elements of both rustic and refined dining. “I wanted to tighten my food up. My cooking is very natural. I like it to look like it’s just fallen on the plate, but here I wanted more presentation.”
To that end, he has assembled a strong kitchen team to support him. They include executive chef Olly Pierrepont, previously head chef of Luca and La Trompette; head chef Andy Bright, whose CV includes Kerridge’s Bar & Grill, Saison, and Fera; and Zinzan Riess-Hollier, previously of Luca and Padella.
While Parle himself is the one to write the final menu, the process of putting it together is a collaborative one. “My role is often to edit what other people are creating; to refine and focus it and make it sit in the vision I have for the restaurant. I’m quite good at that and have been doing it for a long time.
“I’m not about taking all the creative credit; I don’t see myself as having a big ego in that way.”
He singles out a dish of artichoke with broad beans, Jersey royals, radishes and wild garlic, which was created by Riess-Hollier, as being a personal favourite on the launch menu. “It’s so good and to be honest I had almost nothing to do with it. And I like it more for that reason.”
Serving up fun
Parle looked all over London before settling on the Dury Lane site. “I wanted it to be robust enough,” he says. “And I knew I wanted to be central”. Its location in the heart of London’s theatre district means that Town almost gets two dinner services, with a pre-theatre sitting starting around 5pm and an evening crowd coming from 7pm onwards.
The restaurant’s interiors are striking with rich textures, warm tones, pops of primary colour and lots of curves. Created by North End Design, it’s a suave and sophisticated space; the sort of place you could imagine Mad Men‘s Don Draper and Roger Sterling might stop for a late-night bite. Design elements include lava stone countertops, a lacquered green kitchen that has already been the focal point of many a Instagram reel, a solid sapele bar, classic Jacobsen chairs and an illuminated ceiling ‘coffer’ design.
It’s still unusual to have a really proper chef-led kitchen with a really well-designed, uplifting space and an awesome cocktail bar
Parle describes Town’s look as being designed to help diners 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. “I think fun is really important in a restaurant. I want this to be a place that makes people feel positive and uplifted.
“Life is heavy right now for a lot of people and if we can give them two hours where they’re in a space that makes them feel good and is serving delicious, super fresh and nutritionally rich, then they’re going to leave on a high.”
Despite its ingredient-led approach, Parle has kept much of the meticulous sourcing legwork to himself. The menus don’t preach sustainability or the championing of producers; there’s no display of ethos or narrative or a sense that the restaurant is taking a different approach. First and foremost, Town is not here to educate, it is to be enjoyed.
Is fun something Parle thinks is missing from restaurants right now? “There are many fun restaurants that do very well in London, but there aren’t many that prioritise the food.
“It’s still unusual to have a really proper chef-led kitchen with a really well-designed, uplifting space and an awesome cocktail bar. It’s not a gap in the market, but it’s something that’s rarely done.”
Speaking of cocktails, Parle has brought in Kevin Armstrong, owner of Satan’s Whiskers (currently ranked at number 29 on The World’s 50 Best Bars list) in Bethnal Green, to oversee the drinks at Town. As well as a succinct list of classics, with an emphasis on martinis, Armstrong has developed a new category of ‘charger’ cocktails for the restaurant that are carbonated in house and served long. Options include a ‘grapefruit charger’ with Tanqueray No. 10, Campari and grapefruit; and a ‘silver charger’ featuring rye whiskey, peach, verjuice, vanilla and soda.
Further ambitions
While his focus right now is on Town, Parle still has ambitions to grow Pastaio, something he has long held. “The Soho restaurant has been open for eight years now and is still going so well,” he says.
“I’m not looking to create a mega group, but there’s such a good team down there. It has such a great following, and I’m always on the lookout for the right site and backers to make that happen.”
I’m only 40. I’m feeling somewhat older, but there’s certainly time to do other things
Beyond that, he also aspires to do something outside of London. “I live in the country and one day I’d like to think I could do something out there.
“Right now, I feel like I’ve got my hands full. I’m focused on Town and Pastaio. I’m only 40, though. I’m feeling somewhat older, but there’s certainly time to do other things.”