Wild Food Specialists Will Reopen in Southwark, Following Covent Garden Closure

Last week, the foraged food and British specialists at Native, in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, announced that they would be closing the restaurant after three years. No specific reason was given at the time. Now, the founders Imogen Davis and Ivan Tisdall-Downes have confirmed that they will reopen at 32 Southwark Street, in Flat Iron Square — a small development with a collection of other restaurants.

The Covent Garden restaurant will close after the dinner service on Saturday 19 May. On Tuesday 5 June, Native will re-open as a bigger operation, with 60 covers. The announcement said that the new Native “will continue to celebrate all that founders Ivan Tisdall-Downes and Imogen Davis believe in: entirely British produce, zero waste, and a profound respect for the natural environment.”

Native says it embraces the ethos of “what grows together, goes together.” They therefore subscribe to the codes adopted by so many new, often modern British restaurants: locally sourced ingredients, the support of small, independent suppliers and “micro farms.” The owners say they will also incorporate “home-grown and self foraged food” into their menus.

The menu will change each day, offering a number of the dishes for which Native has become known, including: fallow deer with caramelised cauliflower and carrot top salsa verde; roast veal with wild garlic and hasselback potatoes; and fermented truffle potato risotto with tamari and spenwood cheese.

Native will reintroduce its ‘Chef’s Wasting Snacks’ on the menu at the new restaurant: a selection of canapés where Tisdall-Downes uses ingredients that might otherwise be discarded — like fish skins, potato peelings and even wine, “to ensure nothing goes to waste.”

Native will be open Tuesday to Saturday, 12.30 — 2.30pm for lunch and 6pm — 10pm for dinner. Reservations can be made online here.

The Native brand initially started as a pop-up in 2015.