Ben Tish steps down as Cubitt House chef director
Six months after Young's £30m takeover of nine of its London pubs, Tish moves from chef director to a consultant role shaping the group's kitchens from outside.
Ben Tish is stepping down as chef director of Cubitt House after five years, roughly six months after pub group Young's bought nine of Cubitt House's London sites for about £30m.
Tish will move into a chef consultant role, continuing to guide the group's head chefs and kitchen teams while supporting new openings and acting as an ambassador for brand events and collaborations.
"I'm incredibly proud of what we've built at Cubitt House and this next chapter allows me to continue shaping its food direction, while also giving me the opportunity to work on projects outside the group," Tish said.
This next chapter allows me to continue shaping Cubitt House's food direction, while working on projects outside the group.
Five years of produce-led cooking
Tish joined Cubitt House in October 2021 to develop the group's pub portfolio alongside directors Sam and Georgie Pearman. He introduced produce-led cooking across the sites and built relationships with British farmers and suppliers that the group says will continue under the new structure.
Before Cubitt House, Tish spent three years as culinary director of the Stafford London and opened the restaurant Norma there in 2019. His name carries weight in London kitchens, which makes the shift to an advisory role, rather than a clean departure, worth noting.
A pub group under new ownership
Young's, which operates more than 280 pubs and inns with rooms across London and the south-east, completed its roughly £30m purchase of the nine Cubitt House sites earlier this year. The deal brought one of London's better-regarded small pub groups under a much larger operator, with Tish staying on to manage the transition in the kitchen.
Pub consolidation has picked up pace this year, with Stonegate's pubs also under discussion for a sale to Heineken. Chef director exits that follow ownership changes are common; less common is a group keeping its outgoing chef on in an advisory capacity rather than replacing him outright.
Cubitt House has not named a successor as chef director. For now, Tish's head chefs report into the same kitchen culture he built, just with him one step removed from daily service.
