Adam White and Clive Watson (co-founders of the Garrison and Village East, two of Bermondsey’s finest) have come north and opened a new-all day brasserie in Fitzrovia on the corner of Riding House and Great Titchfield streets. Aptly named The Riding House Cafe, the owners, with the help of their designer, Louise Davies, have created interiors with an eccentric English quality (think taxidermy light fixtures and a teal-meets-tomato-soup palette), where everything has been refashioned or remade, including midcentury seating in updated colors.
Photography via The Riding House Cafe.
Above: Traditional oak paneling creates a clubby atmosphere within the 1950s building. The architect, Louise Davies of Box 9 Architects, found a vintage lamp shade in Colorado and had it copied at Ann’s on Kensington Church Street.
Above: “The squirrel taxidermy light fixtures have been highly controversial,” White says.”As with Marmite, people either love them or hate them. The debate over the origin of red squirrels and brown squirrels has been interesting. Plenty of squirrel boffins out there.”
Above: The banquette was modeled after a beautiful old sofa the owners and designer saw in the shop window of Christopher Howe. White calls the color “Heinz tomato soup” of childhood memories.
Above: Another taxidermy light fixture–this time of a bird in flight–confirms an English sense of humor.
Above: Turquoise bar stools are a complementary retro color to the orange-red.
Above: Turquoise-tinted water glasses tie in with the color of the bar stools.
Above: The table is laid simply for all-day brasserie fare.
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