LDNER #23 TOM PEAKE, NICK FOX & MARK REYNOLDS

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got a treat in store for you this week, not one but three Londoners! Oh yes we’ve got Tom Peake, Nick Fox and Mark Reynolds who co-own South West London pub group Renaissance Pubs which is 10 years old this month. If you don’t know the pub group now is the perfect time to familiarise yourself with them as they are offering free food and drink for a decade to one lucky winner.

First things first, can we win the competition? Please? No? OK then tell us where you live in London and why?

NF: I’ve lived in Battersea, for 16 years. I love it for its great parks, great schools and abundance of wonderful pubs and restaurants.

TP: I now live outside of London but Mark and I share a flat above The Stonhouse, where we often stay during the week. Being just off Clapham High Street, helps us keep up with what the younger crowd are up to.

You obviously know your pubs, in your opinion what makes a cracking pub?

NF: Relaxed, comfortable atmosphere, good informal service, great ingredients cooked well and simply, good wine at reasonable prices and well looked after real ales. A cracking cocktail now and then doesn’t hurt.

TP: To me the difference between a good pub and a pub I will return to again and again is down to all the different aspects of the pub dovetailing beautifully. If everything from the food to the decor to the staff etc. sits together effortlessly, then you have something truly special – and it’s always quite unique.


Oh a cracking cocktail now and then in a must! Which pubs do you recommend that aren’t in the Renaissance group? 

NF: Thomas Cubbitt and the Jugged Hare in London; The Trout just outside Oxford.

TP: The Ten Bells in Spitalfields; The Canton Arms in Stockwell.

What about grub? What’s the best pub meal you’ve ever eaten? 

MR: My perfect pub lunch would be Sunday family lunch with Bloody Mary’s, roast beef, followed by British cheeses and all washed down with a decent bottle of Rioja.

NF: I’ve had too many to choose one. A great pork belly is tough to top.

TP: A sensational fish and chips at The Kings Arms in Monkton Farleigh in Wiltshire has always stuck in my mind as the finest example of a classic pub dish I’ve ever had.

Dean Street Townhouse

And finally tell us what your perfect day in London would be…

MR: My favourite London day happened last week. We took the kids (George 7 and Pollyanna 5) to see the Lion King and walked over Waterloo Bridge seeing the London Eye and Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Then the grown-ups went out for dinner at Balthazar – a great, buzzy American brasserie with tons of character. I had escargot followed by entrecôte – perfect.

TP: Wake up late next to my wife at the Dean Street Townhouse and have a leisurely brunch there. Head out to the V&A to take in an exhibition like ‘David Bowie is’, then on to a light lunch at Nopi (my wife is a huge fan). Stroll through Soho, then jump on a bus to Spitalfields and a wander through the markets. Meet up with friends at The Ten Bells and then on to supper at somewhere like Hawksmoor or Hakkasan.

NF: I love a long lunch at somewhere like the Wolseley followed by a concert at Wembley or the O2 or taking the kids to the park and then walking to the Bolingbroke for lunch – their favourite pub!

Those sound like 3 pretty perfect days to us! If you like what you hear and fancy checking out one of the Renaissance Pubs hit up the website for locations and don’t forget to check out the special 10th birthday offers too!

www.renaissancepubs.co.uk/ten

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