St. John (restaurant)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Founded | October 1994 |
| Founder | Trevor Gulliver, Fergus Henderson, Jon Spiteri |
| Headquarters | London , England, United Kingdom |
| Products | British cuisine, nose to tail eating, bakery products |
St. John is an English restaurant situated on St John Street within the Smithfield, London district. Founded in October 1994 by Trevor Gulliver, Fergus Henderson, and Jon Spiteri in a building that formerly served as a bacon smokehouse, the establishment is acclaimed for its "nose to tail eating" philosophy, championed by Henderson as the head chef. The menu emphasizes offal and rarely utilized meat cuts, breathing new life into classic British dishes such as pig’s ears, ducks’ hearts, trotters, pigs’ tails, bone marrow, along with seasonal selections like squirrel. This unique culinary concept has drawn a loyal following including chefs, culinary journalists, and food enthusiasts.
Awards and accolades
St. John has been honored with several distinguished awards, notably Best British and Best Overall London Restaurant at the 2001 Moet & Chandon Restaurant Awards. It regularly appears in the annual Top 50 global restaurants list by Restaurant magazine, achieving 41st place in 2011, an improvement from 43rd in 2010. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in 2009. Furthermore, St. John Hotel was granted a Michelin star in September 2012.
Related enterprises
The original Smithfield location was later supplemented by a more casual sister establishment and bakery named St. John Bread and Wine, which opened in London's Spitalfields in 2003, followed by a hotel near Leicester Square in 2011. However, by 2013 the hotel had ended its association with the St. John restaurant group.
By 2022, St John had grown to include a new restaurant in Marylebone and manages three bakeries throughout London: Borough Market, Covent Garden, and Bermondsey.