A new chapter for The Devonshire
The ever popular The Devonshire in Soho is showing no signs of slowing down.
In November 2023, Ashley Palmer-Watts, who spent 20 years working with Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, teamed up with publican Oisín Rogers and Flat Iron founder Charlie Carroll to open a pub.
Two years on, the bar is still bustling and a table in the restaurant is one of the hottest spots in town, with up to 600 covers a day catered for.
Why The Devonshire Opened Private Dining Rooms
In a bid to further enhance their offering, The Devonshire have utilised a different part of the building to open up private dining spaces.
It is a unique way to enjoy The Devonshire experience, with the same feasting menu from the restaurant, as well as a few added extras.
“We’ve recently created and opened these private dining rooms here, mainly because the demand was pretty evident,” Ashley explained.
“Our feasting-style menus for bigger parties were really well received, and people wanted bigger and bigger tables.
“Instead of taking out a whole dining room, we thought: if we can get this space, we’ll open private rooms.”
He added: “It had to feel connected to the Devonshire’s DNA - the bustle and energy of a pub - without losing it.
“There’s lots of artwork, beautiful lighting, the same touchpoints as the restaurant. There’s a separate entrance from Sherwood Street into a lovely room with cool art and a one-way mirror - you can see into the pub, but the pub can’t see in.
“Just past that there’s a hatch to the end of the bar. You get the most incredible noise and energy as all the pints of Guinness come through when you arrive.”
What’s on the Private Dining Menu?
Among the added extras in the private dining space are dishes such as caviar bun, steak tartare, truffled eggs and crêpes Suzette.
This also includes some tableside work for the guests to enjoy.
“We wanted this to feel special in its own way,” said Ashley.
“We took our feasting menu from the restaurant and added a few dishes you can only get in the private rooms, so it stands alone.
“Bringing back tableside service lets the front of house mix at the table; it becomes a seamless flurry of starters.
“The trolley will arrive and people are always interested in the process of what we do as chefs - if we can bring that into the dining room, brilliant.
“It’s been amazing. People love it.
“You don’t see it all the time. It’s a real experience. It’s happening in front of you, it’s exciting, and it’s not normal every day.
“It’s been brilliant for the team. We’ve had a lot of fun. It’s been great teaching the staff to imagine they’re on TV, showing the viewer what’s happening in the dining room.
“There’s good synergy there. Once they’re comfortable with the process, they can add character, a bit of chit-chat and banter.
“I love watching them come into a room and steal the show.”
Tableside classics
Crêpes Suzette is a dessert synonymous with some of the high-end establishments in London, such as The Ritz.
Asked why he wanted to introduce it at The Devonshire, Ashley explained: “It’s a favourite. You see it in a few key places in London and Charlie, Ois and I love it when we get to experience it.
“For large numbers, it would take all day to do 60 in a room, so we organised it so the first part of the table is cooked from the trolley, the middle comes from the kitchen in exactly the same way, and the last part from the trolley again.
“There’s constant theatre while dishes still arrive, and they all taste exactly the same.
“There’s little to go wrong in the way we’ve set this up. You still get the romance of warming caramel, popping the crêpes in, warming them through, adding the alcohol and flambéing.
“The key is the alcohol mix. We make a triple sec and combine it with brandy and cognac - super high proof, 57% - which gives us the structure of the sauce. Then with reduced orange juice, fresh lemon juice and fresh orange juice, all of those achieve a really nice, clean balance.”
The other dish prepared tableside is the steak tartare.
“We have our butchery downstairs and dry age all our beef, so we wanted to showcase that in the dining room,” Ashley said.
“Our tartare is a little different from the classic raw egg version. Consistency is key here - large number of covers and many people executing the same thing - so we approached it to be as consistent as possible, with as little judgement call as possible in mixing the ingredients together.
“I wanted the seasoning to support the beef flavour - that’s the real star.
“Everything else builds around it to support that. I use a little more liquid than is classic and lightly cook the egg to hold it all in an emulsion that coats the beef beautifully.
“When tartare is on the guest menu, a wooden trolley arrives in the room while guests are tucking into starters. Front of house mix it in front of them and interact - not intruding, just adding to the experience.
“Whether we’re serving eight people or 60, everything is weighed and consistent. They just have to mix with care and in the right order so it’s as it should be, as if it came from the kitchen.”
High-profile guests
The Devonshire ranked number two in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs of 2025 list, with its affordable, crowd-pleasing food such as white crab salad, lamb hotpot, ribeye of beef and sticky toffee pudding.
Ashley started out at Le Petit Canard in Dorset, linking up with Heston, playing a key role in the launch of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, as well as winning and maintaining three Michelin stars at The Fat Duck.
Now he is attracting high-profile names such as British singers Ed Sheeran and Lewis Capaldi to his Soho pub.
Discussing the private dining spaces themselves, Ashley said: “The Blue Room can take about 60 covers in one go. There’s a solid wall that comes down so we can split it into a 35 and a 25 - when we split the rooms, they become the Winehouse and the Lennon.
“Above this room, where the small kitchen is, we have the Bowie Room, which is about 24–26 covers.”
He added: “There’s nowhere left to expand to - we’ve used every ounce of space. If we could find more, brilliant!
"So it’s about improving, inspiring the team to deliver an experience that lives up to expectations and surpasses them.
“We’ve got a long way to go. We never say never - you never know what’s around the corner - but it’s an incredible place that takes a lot of our time.
“We just want to give people the best time.”
{{user.name}}