{"id":180706,"date":"2026-03-31T11:17:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/180706\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:17:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:17:55","slug":"deans-an-elegant-british-pub-opens-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/180706\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean\u2019s, an Elegant British Pub, Opens in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Jess Shadbolt, who grew up in Suffolk near the southeastern coast of England, thinks British food\u2019s reputation for blandness and austerity is unfair. She\u2019s looking to upend Americans\u2019 misconception with her lively menu at Dean\u2019s<\/a>, the pub she\u2019s opening this week with Annie Shi, one of her partners at the restaurants Jupiter<\/a> and King<\/a>, which also happens to be next door to Dean\u2019s. Shadbolt wants the food to be \u201cnibbly and not too robust\u201d and absolutely British. \u201cI\u2019ve cooked French and Italian regional food for so long,\u201d she says. \u201cNostalgia kicked in.\u201d It may also be why, with its\u00a0Douglas fir wood paneling, large terra-cotta-tiled floors, and open kitchen, Dean\u2019s feels a bit like Shadbolt and Shi are welcoming guests into their home.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the smell of the kitchen is different,\u201d Shi adds. \u201cKing is olive oil and lemon \u2014 Dean\u2019s is butter pastry wafting out. Guinness bread is made from freshly milled upstate grains from Brooklyn Granary in Gowanus<\/a>. Shadbolt serves it with a swirl of Marmite butter: savory, salty\u00a0Anglo-umami. \u201cThe bread\u2019s got a real depth of flavor with earthiness from Guinness that can stand up to the Marmite,\u201d the chef says.<\/p>\n

Snacks include parsnip-and-beet chips, pork scratchings perfumed with five-spice and cumin, and Scotch quail eggs that are diminutive on purpose: \u201cIt\u2019s not meant to be a baseball,\u201d says Shi.\u00a0More substantial menu items will include calf\u2019s liver with zebra-striped char marks that\u2019s brightened up with braised peas and grilled lettuces and gilded with an accompanying piece of bone marrow. Sets of cold roast beef, scallops with salsify, dressed crab atop a hot buttered crumpet, and \u2014 a concession \u2014 fish and chips. \u201cIt\u2019s a peace offering,\u201d says Shadbolt, \u201clike steak-frites \u2014 something everyone will love.\u201d<\/p>\n

One menu item that will likely not be familiar to most New Yorkers is stargazy pie, a savory seafood pastry that hails from the small coastal town of Mousehole, Cornwall. The dish was first created to honor a legendary 16th-century catch that lifted the town out of famine right before Christmastime. Today, it\u2019s served on Tom Bawcock\u2019s Eve, a.k.a. December 23, and usually assembled with seven types of fish peering out of a suet crust, or at least septet of pilchards \u2014 sardines \u2014 that look like they\u2019re leaping out of the water. Dean\u2019s Stargazy will be filled with local seafood like Boston mackerel, cod, and hake, with boiled potatoes, cider, and a tiny bit of saffron. Shadbolt points out, \u201cIt\u2019s not a carbon copy, it\u2019s not a religious ode, it\u2019s an inspiration, and a challenge to think about how to make it feel visually appealing.\u201d Dean\u2019s can make only ten per day, but wary diners won\u2019t have to worry about too many fish eyes gazing up at the ceiling: Shadbolt\u2019s recipe allows for only one fish head to poke out the top.<\/p>\n

Being a pub and all, drinks are crucial. Shi is Dean\u2019s beverage director and has assembled a collection of options \u2014 proper British-size pints of Guinness, Old Speckled Hen ale, a dirty G&T with gin distilled in Shadbolt\u2019s hometown \u2014 that matches the mood. A cocktail list from bartender Laurel Delaney, who moved over from King, highlights gin drinks, like a Sloe Gin Fizz and a martini made with Plymouth Navy Strength and garnished with a Stilton-stuffed olive. \u201cYou can\u2019t have an English meal that doesn\u2019t end in something sweet,\u201d says Shi, promising classic British digestifs, like Port, Madeira, and a five-year Somerset apple brandy she brought back from England in her suitcase.<\/p>\n

Finally, pastry chef Fiona Thomas puts forth dried fruit-filled sticky, steamed puddings with dollops of cold custard. Tangy lemon and elderflower posset with shortbread dippers and Brandy Snaps cookies \u2014 piped with boozy cream and a chocolate cremeux \u2014 follow the theme of thoughtful bar food that isn\u2019t too precious. \u201cPeople want casual places to meet friends that\u2019s low-stakes, not a place to schedule a reservation three weeks out for a tasting menu,\u201d says Shi. Dean\u2019s, after all, is just a pub.<\/p>\n

Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the April 6, 2026, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n

Want more stories like this one? Subscribe now<\/a>
\n to support our journalism and get unlimited access to our coverage.
\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the April 6, 2026, issue of
\n New York Magazine.<\/p>\n

EAT LIKE THE EXPERTS.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Grub Street newsletter.<\/p>\n

Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n

By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms<\/a> and Privacy Notice<\/a> and to receive email correspondence from us.<\/p>\n


\n See All<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n