Tom Oldroyd to relaunch 1840s Dalston pub with a French twist

Chef and restaurateur Tom Oldroyd is renovating Dalston pub The Richmond to reopen as a restaurant at the end of spring.

Located on Queensbridge Road, the pub will be renamed The Duke of Richmond.

It will be open seven days a week, serving British seasonal produce with a French twist.

The new venture will offer a more sophisticated style of dining, moving away from the style of the chef’s eponymous restaurant Oldroyd, which serves small and sharing plates.  

A French à la carte menu will be served in the 30-cover dining room, with dishes including starters of lamb sweetbread with asparagus vol au vent; and grilled Orkney scallop with charred broccoli and beurre blanc.

Mains will include roast turbot with béarnaise; Swaledale lamb en croute with green beans and wild garlic butter; and open lasagne of wild nettles, violetta artichokes and broad beans.

Dessert options of rum baba with grilled pineapple and whipped cream; and crème brulee custard tart will be available.

In the 30-cover pub area, a menu of classic pub dishes with a French twist will be served, such as Toulouse sausages with mash and roast shallots. Sunday roasts will be served, offering a rotisserie menu that the chef hopes will compete with some of the capital’s best roasts.

A 20-cover terrace will offer seating for customers to have a drink, choosing from a selection of local beers, ciders and classic cocktails, with a view of the theatrical open kitchen with wood fire cooking.

The design revamp is being overseen by Oldroyd’s fiancée, Meryl Fernandes, who played a key role in the creative design at Oldroyd.

The Duke of Richmond originally opened under the same name in 1841. It has been unoccupied since its last tenants, the duo behind The Richmond, Brett Redman and Margaret Crow, closed it ahead of the launch of their Neptune restaurant in the Principal Hotel this year.

Tom Oldroyd opened his first solo venture, Oldroyd, in 2015 after leaving his role as chef director at Polpo. The chef will continue to operate it alongside the new restaurant.