A few streets away from Camden Town’s main drag, tucked away in a quiet residential street, is the Colonel Fawcett. It’s run by three twentysomething friends: Ross Grady, Angus Stevenson and Crusoe Millar, who quit their jobs as music promoters and recruitment consultants in 2011 to buy the pub, which dates from the early 19th century (Fawcett was a real colonel, who died after the last recorded duel in Britain, which took place not far away on Camden Road). “The place was falling apart: part of the ceiling had collapsed and the spiral staircase, now a feature, was condemned,” says Grady. “But we could see the potential.”
They managed to do most of the work themselves, fulfilling their dream of creating a hangout for locals that happened to serve excellent food, with an emphasis on a great Sunday roast, something the trio thought was lacking in the capital. “We’re not a gastropub, we’re a boozer that does good food,” explains Grady.
Current chef Andy Evans joined in early 2013, with a CV that includes stints at the Ivy and St John. It shows, notably in the roasts’ deeply savoury gravy which takes five days to prepare, perfect with their juicy chicken, served with crunchy croquettes of leg meat on the side. The Blackface leg of lamb, top-side Shorthorn beef and slow-roasted pork belly, sourced from Tudge’s farm, Ludlow are just as popular.
“We’re serving 160 roasts on a Sunday, but there’s a demand for more – it breaks my heart having to tell people we’ve run out by the late afternoon. That definitely needs to change!” says Evans, before dashing back to the kitchen.
