The team behind the modern Hackney restaurant Papi will open a pub called The Golden Tooth in April, taking over the Leconfield on Green Lanes.
Owners Matthew Scott and Charlie Carr, chef and sommelier respectively, said they want to “reinvigorate what was once the historic pub”, bringing their “playful Papi DNA” but in a more “refined and grown up” fashion.
Papi closed earlier this year and sullied favour with locals thanks to its menu of oysters with sour melon granita, atomic tomato salad, mince on toast and nettle and ricotta capoletti.
At the Golden Tooth, the launch menu will feature dishes such as fried ox tongue with Thai-style gooseberry jam, mussels on toast with homemade lardo, veal sweetbread saltimbocca, Montgomery cheese puffs with sun gold tomato ketchup, steak tartare with mushroom crackers, and grilled goat chop with ezme salad, the latter a nod to Green Lanes’ mass of Kurdish and Turkish restaurants.
Puddings, Scott and Carr explained, will be “no mere afterthought”. Old childhood favourites have been reimagined for the opening menu with the likes of arctic roll with sour cherry jelly and ice cream, and steamed quince pudding. Every Sunday, “the team will be serving up the most opulent of roast dinners”, the Standard was told.
“My journey started in East End pubs hosting kitchen residencies with Hot 4 U (former casual residency), so to now be returning feels like a full circle moment and one where we can finally reach our potential,” said Scott.
“Our food offering is bold, generous and rooted in closed-loop cooking and sustainability, with in-house butchery at the core.
“We want to honour the pub itself — a real public house steeped in history — dog-friendly, Guinness on tap, the best roasts and most importantly, a place for the community. It will be the same Papi spirit, just sharper, more considered, and with the full autonomy it deserves.”
Both said they want the traditional pub setting to help root their “nostalgia and mischief” in a context familiar to all, while bringing a fresh and original take on the classic gastropub notion.
The large space will be loosely split into two sections — the pub, operating as a more casual bar snack affair, and a 55-cover dining room.
Carr added: “Taking over a 190 year old pub is a big responsibility and something that we’re super excited to do. We’ll lean into the history and atmosphere behind a community led traditional pub, whilst at the same time bringing some of the pizazz and excitement that was central to our ethos at Papi.”
Opening on April 24; The Golden Tooth, 79 Green Lanes, Newington Green, N16 9BU, goldentooth.co.uk
