The closed Dalston pub the Marquis of Lansdowne is soon to become a new restaurant and cocktail bar from the team behind underground music venue the Cause.
Stuart Glen and Eugene Wild are to reopen the historic boozer as the Marquee Moon, naming it after American rock band Television’s cult 1977 album.
Visitors can expect a sharing menu based on contemporary pub classics but with an emphasis on East Asian flavours. Later in the evening, cocktails will take precedence, as will music via a new sound system, programmed by the Cause, which will play “esoteric selections until 3am”.
As important as music will be, the site is to be Glen and Wild’s “most food focused to date”, and follows their Hackney Wick bar All My Friends, and The Greyhound in Peckham.
An announcement said the fixture will offer the community lunch, dinner, and early hours dancing, bringing the community “a destination for day into night vibes”.
In charge of the kitchen will be New Zealand chef Huri Rapana Neil, formerly of the Bull, who is to bring his own take on British pub classics while paying homage to the culture of Thai food in English pubs.
On the menu, the likes of masala potato flatbreads, Thai-style sausage and mash, chicken char siu sandos, and a negroni jelly ice cream sundae.
The Marquee Moon has undergone a renovation, with a new sound system, art deco influences throughout, and with the 80-cover dining room sitting atop an underground cocktail lounge with a “warm and ambient feel”.
Glen and Wild said: “We’re excited to be opening The Marquee Moon in Dalston literally a few doors down from where we met back in 2014. Ten years later, both our friendship and portfolio have grown hugely, championing old friends such as Huri, and our general manager, Rosa (Salice), feels like a real homecoming for both of us.
“Dalston is coming back in a big way. There’s been so many incredible new bars and restaurants opening on Kingsland Road and we're thrilled to be a part of this resurgence.”
The drinks menu has been put together by Emmanuel Ferris-Hue (ex-The Ned and Disrepute) and will bring together local beers and independently produced spirits. Customers might expect pandan old fashioneds made with Tennessee’s Uncle Nearest whisky, and an alfonso margarita, adding mango flavours to a classic. Salice will be looking after the wine list.
In the evenings, Moonlight Sessions will allow DJs to take centre stage. Confirmed to play are the likes of Mafalda, the NTS resident and co founder of Tropics of Love with Floating Points, Adonis’s Grace Sands, The Cause resident Rosy Ross, Charlie Bones & OG, and many more.
