A Theatrical Departure

News

We are very pleased to announce something a little different from St. JOHN - indeed something a little different for our brilliant city.

The Bridge Theatre is the first wholly new commercial theatre of scale in over 40 years, built to elevate the theatregoing experience and set new standards. London Theatre Company, founded by Nicholas Hytner and Nick Starr who together oversaw 12 years of artistic and commercial success at the helm of the National Theatre, asked St. JOHN to help them in this mission as The Bridge Theatre's foyer opens in October.

St. JOHN has been described as anti-establishment, free-thinking, even maverick. As a fellow independent we found a natural alliance with the London Theatre Company, creating new expectations for a new audience.

No Drama

For theatregoers, our madeleines will be available to pre-order, made freshly and hot for the interval. St. JOHN wines and champagne will be poured, as well as a carefully chosen list of local beers. The format and flow of the bar space has been thought anew to avoid those interminable interval waits for drinks.

Pastries, cakes and those doughnuts will be on offer all day, created by our neighbouring Bakery in Bermondsey. For snacks, lunch, pre-theatre and beyond there will be sandwiches such as Cold Roast Lamb and Aioli or the St. JOHN Restaurant favourite Egg Mayonnaise and Cress. There will be small plates such as Terrine, Smoked Mackerel with Horseradish, Globe Artichokes, or Potted Beef. Nibble at Anchovy Twists, Crispy Pig Skin or Radishes and Butter to sustain you during the interval, or over daytime meetings.

The foyer will be essential to the working theatre, and the adjacent community. But the theatre is, of course, the central point, with a truly wonderful programme in store.
We can't wait to see you there.

David Sabel, Director of Creative Development for London Theatre Company, remembers his first meal at St. JOHN:

“I thought, so this is what all the fuss is about – the impeccable quality of the ingredients, the warm service, the respect and attention that went into such an enjoyable experience of eating. When I came to think about who might help us to create something special at The Bridge, I could think of no better partner than St. JOHN and I am thrilled that they were up for playing a role.”

Other News

Trevor's views and adventures

Keykegs and Hugh the Campaigner, jobs for the (Brexit) boys and some light relief in Paris and elsewhere.

I’m waiting for someone to tell me that keykegs are not generally single use plastic items here in the UK, anybody? Meanwhile I have taken the liberty of attaching an opinion piece that Root & Bone magazine asked me to write.

Change - the bad and the good

Let’s get straight to it: keykegs are becoming popular and people ask why we do not have them. Don’t we hold eco values? But those values are the reason we don’t have them: recycling. Key kegs, for those who do not know, are plastic barrels for wine or beer on draft. Salesmen of product packaged in this way are somewhat, well, diffident on the subject as they push their product. So here are the facts: they are only recyclable through one company currently in the UK, who take payment to take them away, and who undertake this as a "marketing exercise”...

Travel Looms

I’ve learnt to curtail my luddish tendencies - many will know that I’ve sometimes refused to regard the fact that St. JOHN really is a 'brand'. But now we have our wines carrying our own label, so fair enough! And happy we are to produce these. However when I visited Lisbon a while back and was shown around the new Time Out Market I was not impressed.

THE WINERY

This is St. JOHN’s winery, Boulevard Napoleon, in the Languedoc village of La Livinière.

In a twist of perfect porcine serendipity, the building is an old pig sty, making Trevor’s local nickname (The Pig) particularly apt – as you can imagine, he spends rather a lot of time here.

Words by Mina Holland, photographs by Elena Heatherwick