Independant Gastropub & Restaurant in Hampstead.
On a pretty day you want to smell the flowers, shake the blossom, tweak the leaves, listen to birdsong, think not too hard about the meaning of life – and have a rewarding bite to eat and a glass of something galvanising to drink.
Beth Coventry’s pub-with-food, The Wells in Hampstead, is a classically proportioned Georgian villa perched at the top of a hill between verdant, raffish Hampstead Heath and the lanes and alleys of Hampstead Village. Wrapped around the corner site are broad terraces with comfortable seating where the Spring and Summer activities mentioned above can all be easily achieved.
In the open kitchen of the ground floor Head Chef Greg Smith, who brings with him from New Zealand that country’s lively response to great ingredients, devises menus that suit lounging on the sofas or sitting up properly at the table in one of the three charming dining rooms on the first floor. The dining rooms, which seat up to 10, 14 and 18 lend themselves perfectly to private functions which could as well be a writer’s book launch, company bonding, celebrity photo-shoot or a Christening tea.
Think Martinis, Margaritas, Champagne cocktails, Daiquiris, fresh juices, a glass of Pinot Noir or a pint of draught bitter. Think socca pancake stack with roasted red pepper, butternut squash, goats cheese, tomatoes, red onion and pesto or grilled rib-eye with parsley butter and chips.
Think about the warmth of sun on your back. After a long time when there was little scope for interesting eating and drinking in the area, The Wells has
put back the Happy into Hampstead.
