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Old Tom & English to Open in Soho

27th October 2014 Print
Old Tom & English

This November dynamic brother and sister team Costas and Maria Constantinou will launch a new and unique reservations-only restaurant serving dinner Monday to Saturday in the heart of Soho. Old Tom & English will focus on unpretentious British food, vintage cocktails and carefully curated wines in a beautifully designed space by critically acclaimed designer Lee Broom. The name references the 18th Century British ‘Old Tom’ gin recipe, as well as being a playful nod to Soho’s colourful history.

Maria Constantinou said “Old Tom & English is all about a complete experience, celebrating British food, vintage cocktails and British design delivered in a modern way. It's Old Soho meets New Soho”.

The menu will consist of small plates, each designed with convivial sharing in mind, allowing guests to create their own tasting menus. Highlights include Battered Fish and Chips, Welsh Rarebit, and Jam Roly Poly and innovative dishes such as Crispy Cider Braised Pig Cheeks with Apple and Fennel sauce, Cornish Scallops Buerre Blanc & Crispy Black Pudding and Deep Fried Popcorn Cockles. Drinking will have a very vintage feel with barrel aged gin, Highgate Negronis and gimlets featuring on the menu, all served from bespoke decanters and glassware creating an elegant feel.

Old Tom & English occupies a basement in Wardour Street; intimate dining nooks, low lighting and plush soft furnishings complete the elegant Soho atmosphere. The venue has a warm and contemporary feel and instead of being the conventional bar and restaurant layout, Broom’s interior design is a contemporary take on the relaxed elegance of home entertaining in the 1960s.

Lee Broom said “I have designed a complete venue concept for Old Tom & English combining all aspects including the interior, branding and elements of the service concept. I thought about the kind of personal service I like to receive in a venue and the theatre of creating drinks in front of you or presenting the food in a way, which considers its interior, like you would at home. The design has been created around those elements and much like the service informs the design, the design of the interior influences the service. For example, marble features throughout the venue in the lighting, the furniture and right through to the barware and tableware we have created. It is a dream project for a designer and I believe will be a real gem for Soho”

Broom uses traditional and honest materials such as oak and marble to create a bar incorporating multiple levels, a post-modern fire place and a striking vertical panelling feature throughout the venue. The simple grey colour palette used on walls, accessories and upholstery are accentuated with flashes of brass and a vibrant red carpet, which runs throughout the interior.

Guests gain entry via the heavy slatted wooden door, ring the doorbell and are welcomed through the hidden hatch to be seated at the bar, lounge or one of the five personal cloisters. Old Tom & English will be a welcome addition to the already vibrant and unique dining options in Soho, reflecting the area’s character, creativity and mischievousness.

About Maria and Costas Constantinou

Maria and Costas have been a part of Soho’s dining scene for many years, starting in their father’s café where they began what Maria describes as “a love affair with food, drink and Soho”. They have worked together for many years and co-own The Arts Theatre Club, a glamorous Prohibition era inspired drinking den.

About Lee Broom

Lee Broom founded his company six years ago and has since gone on to become one of the UK’s leading product and interior designers. In his career, Broom has launched numerous furniture and lighting collections, designed over 40 retail, restaurant and bar interiors including the successful cocktail bar Nightjar in Old Street, London and has won more than 20 awards including four British Design Awards including for The Crystal Bulb in 2013 and ‘British Designer of the Year’ in 2012. His work has been featured internationally in most major broadsheet and interior design publications.

A supporter of British manufacturing techniques, Broom designs, manufactures and retails his own collections, in addition to collaborating with leading brands such as Christian Louboutin, Heals, Matthew Williamson, Ballantines and Philips. His products are now retailed in stores in over 25 countries including Liberty, John Lewis, Selfridges, Dopo Domani, Lane Crawford, Merci, Illums Bolighus and Le Bon Marché. In September 2013 Broom launched Electra House, his first flagship store interconnecting with his design studio on Rivington Street in London.

Old Tom & English

Opening times:  5.30pm – 11.30pm

Address: 187b Wardour Street, W1F 8ZB, London

W: oldtomandenglish.com

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Old Tom & English