South Street Staple Gets a Second Life as a Modern London Pub

Owners Heather Annechiarico and Chris Fetfatzes are going for the look of a modern London pub at their revamped Cambridge on 15th and South streets. The seven-year-old gastropub has all new decor and a new menu to match.

“It feels like a great cool neighborhood restaurant that you would find in modern-day London,” Fetfatzes said in an email. “The menu now features more flavors from around the country and around the world.”

The Cambridge opened in August 2012 in what had been music venue Tritone. The space was totally done from the grittier feel of Tritone into a European-ish tavern with craft beers, fancy burgers, lots of reclaimed wood, and a hidden patio in the back, away from the street, strung with lights.

But it had a dark, closed look, with a thick wall cutting off the bar area from the small dining room and heavy wooden booths. For the renovation, Annechiarico and Fetfatzes took out the dividing wall, swapped out the existing furniture for brighter pieces, and brought in new light fixtures, new wallpaper with jellyfish on it, and a bust of Charles Dickens. You know, like in London. The exterior of the restaurant was redone too, with new paint, flowers, and lights.

Kory Aversa

“We talked for years about opening up the dining room,” Fetfatzes said. “The layout before worked when we opened and was very popular, but it created these cozy sections of people that couldn’t see each other. It was also a tight fit and felt compact when you entered. The new layout brings the whole space to a new level. Instead of having all these separate spaces, there’s a great new energy.”

Out back on the hidden patio, which has a fire pit and tables, they put in maple trees and other greenery and more lights and seats.

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The updated menu, from chef Derek Cantwell, has fewer big, meaty individual entrees and more vegetables, small plates, and platters made to be shared, though there’s still plenty of pub grub, like fish and chips, a double-patty burger with Irish cheddar, and fries covered in whiz, bacon, buttermilk fried onions, and jalapenos. Add to that eggplant fries, a salad that’s a take on a bahn mi, chicken tikka masala pot pie, a falafel sub done up like a meatball sandwich, and a whole fried chicken with biscuits, candied pecan cornbread, pickles, and condiments.

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A door inside the Cambridge, now closed off by a curtain, will lead to Fetfatzes and Annechiarico’s upcoming Wine Dive, a wine bar and bottle shop next door.

The couple also owns Mexican eatery Tio Flores just up the street at 16th and South and Hawthornes, the restaurant and bottle shop on 11th and Fitzwater known for its brunches.

Here’s what the Cambridge looks like now, post-renovation:

Society Hill Films

Society Hill Films

Society Hill Films

Society Hill Films