Geronimo Inns, which owns a group of award-winning pubs, has opened its first outpost in east London.
The Figurehead is a stylish, contemporary pub offering good food in bright, airy surroundings, with an extensive wine list at affordable prices. It opened on May 16 within the Custom House Hotel in Victoria Dock Road, next to the ExCel exhibition centre.
Geronimo Inns, which has won acclaim for its other seven pubs scattered across the capital, is also preparing to open another in a former Slug and Lettuce in Alma Road, Wandsworth, South London, later this year.
The group's most recent new site was the Bear in Clerkenwell, which opened last year, once again transforming a traditional boozer into a stylish community local.
Geronimo Inns was founded by Rupert Clevely, who gave up his job as UK managing director of champagne house Veuve Clicquot to concentrate on the pubs full time. He runs the business with his wife Jo, who is involved in the outlets' interior design.
The menu at the Figurehead, formerly called the Ship, predominantly features grills, different cuts of meat and a selection of fresh fish cooked to order as the customer wants it. It also offers the more traditional gastropub fare familiar to fans of its other venues, such as salmon fishcakes, cumberland sausages with grain mustard mash and red cabbage marmalade, and herb-crusted field mushrooms filled with goats cheese and plum chutney.
Operations manager Ed Turner said: "We want to create a homely environment for those who travel to Excel as well as those who live and work nearby, where they can eat fantastic food either slouched in a sofa or around a table, washed down with a great pint or one of many wines by the glass."
Geronimo Inns' estate includes the Duke of Cambridge in Battersea, which won the Evening Standard's title of pub of the year in 1998 and was a finalist in last year's pub awards organised by The Times.
One of Geronimo's first pubs, the Queens in Primrose Hill, has a Michelin rating and was the Daily Telegraph's pub of the year in 1996. Last year, the Builder's Arms in Chelsea was a finalist for the title of Evening Standard pub of the year.
Both the Duke of Cambridge and the Builder's Arms were finalists for the title of best gastropub in this year's Time Out eating and drinking awards.
Geronimo Inns' pubs
BatterseaThe Duke of Cambridge228 Battersea Bridge Road, SW11 3AATel: 020 7223 5662
ChelseaThe Builders Arms 13 Britten Street, SW3 3TYTel: 020 7349 9040
ClerkenwellThe Bear2 St Johns Square, EC1M 4DETel: 020 7608 2117
DocklandsThe FigureheadCustom House Hotel, 272-282 Victoria Dock Road, E16 3BYTel: 020 7474 1991
Fulham The Harwood ArmsWalham Grove, SW6 1QPTel: 020 7386 1847
Primrose HillThe Queens49 Regents Park Road, NW1 8DXTel: 020 7586 0408
PutneyThe Coat & Badge8 Lacy Road, SW15 1NLTel: 020 8788 4900
Winchmore HillThe Kings HeadThe Green, N21 1BBTel: 020 8886 1988
Related stories:
Geronimo's target close (September 28, 2000) Geronimo set to grow after shares issue (February 7, 2000)