“How great that people can come to us and have pigeon for the first time or venison or even squirrel,” says Davis. She and Tisdall-Downes met at the University of Brighton in 2006 and reconnected to create pop-ups and market stalls around London, notably at Neal's Yard and Borough Market, before launching the dining room at Brown’s fashion boutique. The pair have always focused on foraged ingredients and zero waste and feel sustainability should go beyond namechecking words like “organic” on menus.
In the corner of a high-end department store in one of London’s wealthiest neighborhoods, a restaurant offers yesterday’s fish and bread scraps.
At Native at Browns in Mayfair, the specialty is food at the cutting edge of sustainability. Along with the aged seafood starter, there’s seaweed-infused gin martinis garnished with plants from Essex beaches and, most famously, culled English grey squirrel ragù, and common wood pigeon kebab. These menu options caused an uproar when the Sun splashed a preview on page 3 under the headline “nutty idea.” Now the place, which opened in April 2021, is packed every night. “We didn’t do it to be provocative,” says Native co-founder Imogen Davis. “On the flip side it’s not all so serious,” adds co-founder and chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes. “It’s fun for us to find these ingredients and see what we can do.” Playfulness and resourcefulness are, to them, a key part of their sustainable model.
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