Wood roasted rabbit and poached oysters will be on the menu at Kentish Town's new pub and dining room The Parakeet.
The former Oxford Arms on Kentish Town Road is being transformed by Jazz Cafe owners Steve Ball and Riz Shaikh into a food-led venue which opens in March.
North London-raised head chef Ben Allen - alongside sous-chef Ed Jennings - will oversee the 60-seat dining space, serving produce-led dishes cooked over their custom made flame grill.
The ex-BRAT chef has created a seasonally changing modern European menu including meat and fish sharing dishes based around ox-cheek and bream.
Signature dishes will include ‘Poached Oyster with Pickled Elderflower’, ‘Braised Leeks, Pecorino and Smoked Mushrooms, and ‘Wood Roasted Rabbit, Kohlrabi and Curry Leaf’.
"We’re hugely excited to put our own creative stamp on the menu here at The Parakeet," said Allen.
"Each season has its own unique benefits, spring is exciting with new shoots like wild garlic, the short asparagus season is a favourite. We both love autumnal flavours with comforting cold weather food and the challenge of being creative with limited variety in winter and the abundance of summer."
The Victrorian pub will have a separate food and drinks menu for locals stopping by rather than booking in to dine, with rooms decked out with ornate antique furnishing.
The Parakeet will also serve a carefully curated wine list, centering around biodynamic and low intervention wines.
Ball and Shaikh, who run The Columbo Group of music venues and nightclubs, said their latest venture is born out of a desire to bring something new to the Kentish Town neighbourhood.
"We live locally in Highgate and Camden, and with The Parakeet, we want to build something that gives back to our neighbourhood, and that fits the description of somewhere we’d want to hang out with our family and friends," said Ball.
"It’s great to have Ben Allen on board, he’s someone we really admire, and we can’t wait for visitors (and ourselves) to sit down and have a taste of the seasonal menu he’s created."
The Parakeet, 256 Kentish Town Road, London NW5. https://theparakeetpub.com/
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