There are restaurants that try to work sustainably where possible, and there are restaurants whose entire ethos is built around sustainability. Ivan Tisdall-Downes and Imogen Davis’ Native is and always has been a member of the latter camp. Foraging and low-waste food are at the heart of the restaurant, which first opened in 2016 in Covent Garden before moving to a larger site in Borough in 2018. After leaving London entirely during the coronavirus pandemic, Native returned to the capital in 2021 in its latest iteration – housed within luxury retailer Browns’ Mayfair store.

The ethical nature of Native at Browns is echoed by the restaurant’s artisanal, charming setting, from the dining room’s patterned, tiled floors to the elegantly crafted wooden furniture. A beautifully landscaped hidden courtyard out back offers the perfect escape from Mayfair’s busy streets and benefits from a separate ‘garden bites’ menu.

Tisdall-Downes’ accessible menu of small sharing plates changes regularly depending on seasonal availability and is built around the concept of ‘what grows together, goes together’. British ingredients are always front and centre, yet influences hail from further afield, demonstrated best by inventive dishes such as hogseed-spiced mutton with English grain pilau and labneh. Some typically quirky combinations also make an appearance, particularly in puddings like Native’s now infamous white chocolate and bone marrow caramel, and a sea buckthorn ice lolly.

Native at Browns’ wine list unsurprisingly champions low-intervention, natural wines in keeping with the spirit of the food menu. English sparkling wines from Sussex’s Nyetimber bring a touch of British heritage to the drinks menu, while co-founder Imogen Davis looks after the signature cocktails, which play around with the classics – a dry martini, for example, comes garnished with foraged and pickled rock samphire.

With sustainability at the forefront of people’s minds now more than ever, it’s important for chefs to lead the charge with ethical eating. At Native at Browns, Ivan and Imogen continue to do what they’ve always done, better than ever before.