The restaurant will focus on simple cooking with a range of menus on offer, including set and a la carte options and Saturday and Sunday lunch and brunch menus. It will also have pre- and post- theatre menus for guests of the nearby Watermill Theatre.
Dishes will include salt marsh lamb rump, sea herbs and smoked sardines; beer battered monkfish with ‘lardy chips’ and split peas; and pot roast game of the day. The dessert offer will provide a more unusual selection, with the likes of hazelnut and quince battenberg; pumpkin custard tart with golden syrup ice cream; and stilton baked cheesecake.
The restaurant will also feature a charcuterie trolley with home-cured meats and pickles.
“I want to go right back to basics and focus on doing everything as perfectly as possible,” says Robinson. “My cooking’s about keeping things simple, focusing on flavour and using the techniques I’ve learned to get the best out of ingredients.
“You won’t see me messing around with gels or fermenting everything just for the sake of it.”
As well as the main dining room, the pub will have a garden and a bar area, where bar snacks made using local produce will be on offer.
The pub’s decor is set to be a modern take on the country pub aesthetic. Muted colours, rustic wooden furniture, exposed copper piping, vintage cutlery and crockery will sit alongside an antique pedal-operated organ and leather armchairs
Prices are described as being ‘affordable’ to make The Blackbird accessible to locals. “What I love about the traditional British pub is that it’s something everyone can enjoy and it brings people from all walks of life together,” says Robinson.
