about us
The prelude to Renaissance Pubs was an acclaimed little neighbourhood restaurant, Cinnamon Cay, on Lavender Hill in Battersea, which opened in 2000. This is where Tom Peake, Mark Reynolds and Nick Fox – three childhood friends from South London – set up in business together. Massimo Tebaldi, now Executive Chef at Renaissance Pubs, became Head Chef at Cinnamon Cay in 2002.
The Abbeville was our first pub, opening in December 2002, on Abbeville Road in Clapham. The complete transformation of a rather forlorn restaurant into a thriving local pub established the way forward for Renaissance. The White Hart in Kennington opened in 2005, followed by The Stonhouse in Clapham in 2006, and The Bolingbroke and The Avalon, in Battersea and Balham, in 2008. The Tommyfield opened on the site of The White Hart in May 2010.
Re-invention of all too forgettable places into unique pubs, built with a very clear sense of their locality, is our hallmark. Renaissance is no chain; each pub has a distinct DNA. Our focus is on giving the local neighbourhood what they want in a local pub, and perhaps a little more. The size and location of the pub obviously plays a part too – thus The Abbeville’s rustic, cosy ambiance compared with the epic scale of The Avalon. There is no head office, no middle management – it is just Tom, Nick, Mark and Massimo each playing a role in supporting the managers, chefs and their teams.
Simplicity is the name of our game. We strive to source the freshest, tastiest produce to consistently offer interesting, traditional British menus, alongside a good selection of cask ales and wines. We understand the key appeal of great pubs lies in their historic role at the centre of a neighbourhood: a warm, welcoming house of good food, drink and company: ‘the beating heart of England’.
