Richard Gladwin
The Gladwin Brothers’ director talks to Flora Watkins about opening the fifth restaurant in their portfolio and why living in Barnes is a ‘no-brainer’
Where is home for you in London?
Barnes, in south-west London. We moved there 3½ years ago when my wife and I were expecting our first daughter. Both of us knew that it was exactly where we wanted to live. I was born there; my parents moved to West Sussex [where they run Nutbourne Vineyards] when I was one, but always spoke of it fondly. It’s very geared to young families, too. We’ve recently sized-up from a two-bedroom cottage to a Victorian house, but didn’t want to move out of the community; we only moved about 15 yards around the corner.
What do you do on the weekends?
We’re signed up to both Kew Gardens (www. kew.org) and the London Wetlands Centre (Queen Elizabeth Walk, SW13); there’s always lots going on. Then there’s the riverside walking. We do the Barnes Trail—a big loop around Barnes, Putney and back.
The Brown Dog in Barnes (28, Cross Street, SW13) is where we go to eat. It’s a pub with a pizza and kids’ pasta menu with little salads and their food is very good for adults as well. Sometimes, there’ll be as many as six or eight kids having supper as their parents have a drink—the mess is horrific! But no one minds, it’s simply a really good community spirit.
If we get a grown-up night out, my favourite place to go for dinner in Barnes is Riva (169, Church Road, SW13). It’s absolutely hands-down the best Italian in London. It’s incredibly creative, like the sort of food my brother [Gladwin Brothers executive chef, Oliver] does.
Do you head to your own restaurants on a night out?
It’s essential to running the business that I go to my own restaurants. When we go out with the kids [Imogen, three, and Iris, one], we go to Nutbourne Restaurant in Battersea (35–37, Parkgate Road, SW11). For date nights, we go to either The Shed in Notting Hill (122, Palace Gardens Terrace, W8) or Rabbit in the King’s Road (172, King’s Road, SW3).
I never go to eat without sampling the wine from our vineyard. I might start with a glass of Nutty, our own sparkling wine. My wife always has a cocktail. We have a Daily Loosener at the top of the menu. It’s a seasonal cocktail; we work with the kitchens to ensure there’s no wastage. Last week at Rabbit, they steeped some leftover beetroot in vodka—it made this amazing purple cocktail with lemon and ginger ale.
Your last venture was in Soho, but your new restaurant sees the Gladwin Brothers returning to south-west London…
Two years ago, we opened Sussex (63–64, Frith Street, W1) in the heart of the West End. It was a big step up for us and I’m very proud of it. Neighbourhood restaurants are definitely my strength and my passion. The Fat Badger is opening in Richmond in November (15–17, Hill Rise, TW10).
We call our concept ‘local and wild’; local people and produce, and wild food and ideas [brother Gregory, the farmer, supplies the restaurants]. It’s creative cooking using sustainable techniques—foraging nettles for pasta to go with wild-boar ragu, farmed by a friend in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, and butchered by us for the restaurants.
At The Fat Badger, we’ll have charcuterie from a local producer, cheeses, oysters; things such as Welsh rarebit on the smallplates menu in the all-day bar. On rugby days, we’ll do a set lunch with ham, egg and chips/steak and egg. There’ll be what Oliver calls a ‘trending salad’—a seasonal salad— for the lunchtime healthy option.
At the opposite end of that is a pork Parmo. It comes from Yorkshire, an escalope covered with cheese—i think it’s probably the highest-calorie dish in the English cooking repertoire!
What are you looking forward to doing this winter?
What I’m most excited about is going to the Burlington Arcade. There’s this beautiful children’s shop where I’m going to buy my girls a dress each [Cashmirino, 31, Burlington Arcade W1]. My three year old is obsessed with dresses. And there’s a Bollinger bar directly opposite…
It’s creative cooking using sustainable techniques–foraging nettles for pasta