The duo behind every party-person’s favourite restaurant, Papi in London Fields, has opened a pub, The Golden Tooth, near Newington Green.
Papi closed in March, and now chef Matthew Scott and sommelier Charlie Carr have taken over what was The Leconfield – a historic boozer on the southern tip of Green Lanes – and turned it into a spot that’s part laid-back pub lounge, part buzzy dining room.
“It was a very obvious next step,” Scott tells Broadsheet. The chef, who made his name with a wacky, hyper-creative pub residency named Hot 4 U, is excited to be back in a big heritage building with established roots in the community. “We’re scaling up and returning to where the story began, but with years of experience,” he says.
It’s a place where the duo hopes nobody will feel out of place. “There’s two sides to it,” Carr says. “You’ve got the pub, which is somewhere people can come and relax and not feel that they have to stand in any kind of ceremony. And then you’ve got the dining room, where there are white tablecloths but the energy is quite high and the music is quite loud like it was at Papi … It’s about having something for everybody.”
The dining room has been restored with wood panelling, filled with vintage furniture and crowned with a shimmering disco ball. It’s imbued with the same lively atmosphere that made Papi such a hit. “There’s an elegance to it, but there’s also a kind of campness to it, which I think is really fun,” Carr says.
At the bar, a pint of “pretty hazy” The Golden Tooth lager – brewed in collaboration with Great Beyond – is £5.90. And the low-intervention wine list is 80 per cent British producers, with glasses starting at £7.
As Carr built the list, the scope of what’s available on our island surprised him. He originally intended the list to be 50 per cent British producers. “I thought maybe English wine couldn’t do everything that you’d want on a list,” he says. “But when I was writing it, I realised you have producers like Domaine Hugo that are easily just as good as anything coming out of Champagne. If you want a white burgundy, you have Daniel Ham – [his] Many Moons [wine] is just as good as anything coming out from Burgundy. It reminds me of natural wine 10 years ago, I’m discovering totally new flavour profiles,” Carr says.
Meanwhile, Scott is conjuring recognisable classics on his food menu. “It’s going to take on what I would describe as a gastropub,” he says. “We’re directly showcasing and championing English producers. And really valuing the fact that a lot of the hard work has been done for us. It’s about how we can develop that into something special.”
Comfort is key. “There’s always something nostalgic or homely, like Neapolitan ice-cream, or frangipane or a quiche,” Scott says. “It’s a very seasonal, compact, not overly fluffy menu.”
Right now, bar snacks include oysters, chips with wild garlic aioli, and cheese and pickle sandwiches. In the dining room a chicken and red prawn stargazy pie – with the crustacean’s head poking out the top, as tradition dictates – is already the star of the show.
There’ll be traces of the pair’s legendary party energy, too. “I’m very ready to let the customers party. There’s a disco ball and the music will always make people do this with their heads,” says Scott, bobbing side to side.
Beyond the good times, Carr and Scott say they just want to make a broad range of locals feel at home. “There’s dog biscuits on the bar, but there’s incredible natural wines on our list,” says Scott. “With a pub comes a greater sense of public responsibility. It feels like we’re in something that can really sustain any storms … It’s a really solid old space. It’s kind of our castle.”
The Golden Tooth
79 Green Lanes, N16 9BU
02073542791
Hours:
Pub
Mon to Thu 5pm–11pm
Fri & Sat midday–midnight
Sun midday–11pm
Restaurant
Wed & Thu 6pm–late
Fri & Sat midday–2pm, 6pm–late
Sun midday–6pm
