Robin Hood-Inspired Pop-Up Is the Latest Chapter in the Tom Sellers Story

Bermondsey-based chef/owner of Restaurant Story, Tom Sellers, has announced that he will close his flagship restaurant on Tooley Street for a refurbishment and “complete overhaul” this spring. “To keep him busy,” a statement says, “he will begin a temporary pop-up (4 — 22 April) called Merry Men just down the road.” Story will close on Saturday 31 March and reopen on Monday 7 May.

The restaurant will open on Tanner Street, just off Bermondsey Street and is “designed to give an immersive dining experience in the heart of SE1.” The ‘pop-up’ will coincide with the closure of the one-Michelin-starred Restaurant Story, which will undergo its first, complete interior renovation, since opening in 2013. The new look and evolution is being designed to “reflect Tom [Sellers’] development as a restauranteur.”

The name, which references the story of Robin Hood and his band of merry men, will “pay tribute to Tom’s upbringing in Nottingham,” drawing on Sellers’ “passion for history and provenance by bringing elements of storytelling into the menu.” Dishes at Story famously reference fairytales, like Goldilocks, which inspired a trio of porridges as a signature dessert.

A banquet-style menu will reflect Tom’s dedication to seasonal, refined and artfully conceived dishes. The focal point of each meal will be traditionally prepared meats, alongside drinks selected by Story’s head sommelier. Dishes will include:

• Bone marrow, eel and parsley
• Smoked haddock in milk
• Braised and hot smoked lamb leg, anchovies and capers
• Beef cheeks in hay
• Lardy cake with salted blackberries and cultured ice cream

Each Wednesday the restaurant will host a guest chef — Jason Atherton has been confirmed for 18 April — who will collaborate on a menu and cook alongside Sellers. The project has also confirmed that it will donate a portion of each ticket sold to Hospitality Action, with a larger portion being donated on guest chef evenings.

Story/Official

The 60-seat venue at 32 Southwark Street, SE1 1TU will be open for dinner Wednesday to Saturday and for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays. A bar accommodating 40 guests will serve a “woodland-themed cocktail menu” designed by mixologist Matt Whiley, alongside a small bar snack menu called ‘Pig Tales.’

To visit the pop-up restaurant guests must pre-book tickets at a cost of £60.27 for four courses including a drink. Bookings will be available from 19 February via Eventbrite.

To mark the final evening of the pop-up, the team will host The Last Feast, “a market day” where all elements of pop-up will be for sale, from crockery to cutlery and glassware. Sellers will donate the profits made on the sale of these items to Hospitality Action.