By Angela Greene: Restaurant Associates announce latest culinary partnership.
Restaurant Associates has announced their latest partnership with Imogen Davis and Ivan Tisdall-Downes, the duo behind the restaurant concept Native. They join the likes of Michel Roux, Jason Atherton, and Dipna Anand already working alongside Restaurant Associates.
Native champions British produce with a foraged-focused menu aligning with the steps being made towards the Restaurant Associates’ pledge to become Net-Zero by 2030. As such, the team will be working closely with the senior chef team at Restaurant Associates to develop a range of seasonal menus alongside a series of pop-up events across the estate. They will also be providing foraging training for all employees, as well as participating in Restaurant Associates’ Level 4 apprentice program, Collaborate, which launched earlier this year.
The pair have developed a series of menus that will be employed across Restaurant Associates’ portfolio, ensuring that every premium hospitality experience delivers beautifully bespoke cuisine and exceptional service. The new offerings cover everything from canapes and bowl starters to mains and desserts. Highlights include fish trim toast, with apple hoisin & crispy seaweed; pumpkin veloute with chermoula & English muffin served inside a small pumpkin; and line caught sea bass, lapsang dashi & black mustard leaf for light bites and starters. Mains include Aynhoe Park venison, kohlrabi, Sussex squash & Earl Grey prune; wild turbot with Maldon oyster & charred courgette; and hogseed vadouvan roasted carrots, hay ash honey & tempura carrot tops and for desserts: parsnip tarte Tatin; beetroot & dark chocolate cake with sorrel granita & raspberry and pumpkin pie with yoghurt sorbet. Petit Fours include a duck fat fudge and a caramelised honey truffle & burnt meringue amongst more.
Gavin Gooddy, Marketing Director at Restaurant Associates, says of the partnership: “Imogen, Ivan and their team are dedicated to maintaining and working towards a zero-waste restaurant and work hard to source and support regenerative agricultural practices keeping true to their ethos of letting the land dictate the menu. Their modern approach to service, education and culture is an exciting and highly valued addition to Restaurant Associates.”
Imogen Davis added by saying: “It’s a wonderful partnership, and one we feel really comfortable with. We are involved in so many different aspects, from the apprenticeship to the service side of things and developing new menus and processes. It’s exciting that Restaurant Associates have taken on board our ethics, especially with the sourcing of produce and our core beliefs. It feels amazing to be part of the family.”
October’s Kitchen Porter of the Month, Emily from The CRUMBS Project