Ex-Bull & Last duo to open new Islington pub The Baring

A new upmarket pub called The Baring will open its doors in Islington on July 12.

Born from a partnership between ex-Dabbous head chef Rob Tecwyn and general manager Adam Symonds, formerly of Orasay and Six Portland Road, the opening is the latest to bring refined cooking into a neighbourhood local.

The pair met while working at The Bull & Last in Highgate and are taking over a site off Regent’s Canal. Their mission? To ‘stay respectful to the traditions of the great British pub whilst not being bound by them’.

Gastropubs are having a moment of resurgence, with some of the country’s best known chefs (Margot Henderson and James Knappett among them) looking for a more relaxed and friendly setting in which to serve ‘high-quality, thoughtful dishes’.

Rob, who most recently worked as senior sous chef at Kerridge’s Bar and Grill, has developed a concise, ‘ingredient-led’ menu, featuring bar snacks alongside starters, larger mains for sharing, and traditional desserts.

‘Opening large, lively restaurants such as Kerridge’s reignited a desire to bring such conviviality back to a more local setting’, Rob said.  

‘Adam, I knew, shared the same vision: to bring simple, ingredient-led food, cooked well, to the table. To create a space where people can come to eat and drink that is spacious, minimal, yet warm and welcoming, and where they will leave satisfied.’

Starters will include quail shish with garlic yoghurt and pul biber chilli, and smoked eel with pig cheek terrine. For mains: lamb rump, köfte, aubergine and shishito pepper; roasted gurnard with taramasalata, and ricotta gnudi with broad beans and chervil.

The Baring will serve a roast on Sundays, and from Tuesday to Friday there’ll be a weekly changing special lunch on offer.

Beer, both keg and cask, will be sourced from British small breweries, including Burning Sky, Little Earth, Five Points, and Cornwall’s Harbour Brewing, and Adam will curate a list of bottled sour beers, which is a personal passion of his.

Wines will be natural and low-intervention, and cocktails will be made from local spirits and homemade cordials. 

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