A new long-term guest residency opens at Highbury’s Compton Arms next week. Rake, from chef duo Jay Claus and Syrus Pickhaver, promises “unfeigned, restorative British” fare with a focus on whole-beast butchery and sustainable fish from Cornwall.

The pair have a combined 20 years’ experience in highly rated establishments including Quo Vadis, Brat and Acme Fire Cult. They will offer a regularly changing menu prepared with “minimal fuss and skilled technique“, rescuing long-forgotten British recipes with such treats as beer-battered cockles and clams; Cumberland spiced lardo; beef and ale pie; crab claw with laverbread and bacon Béarnaise; and beef ribeye to share.

Desserts include treacle tart with clotted cream and deep-fried summer berry pie with “blackberries foraged from Syrus’s mum’s garden”.

The Compton has emerged in recent years as an incubator for gastronomic talent including chefs Ed McIlroy and Jamie Allan, the ‘Four Legs’ duo who have since founded The Plimsoll and Tollington’s fish bar. Most recently, chef Dara Klein has just wrapped up her rustic Puglian specialist Tiello after a successful 20-month residency. Dara teased followers this week with a post saying she had bought a notebook to start work on on as-yet unannounced new project.

The Compton’s other claim to fame is that it was the model for George Orwell’s ideal pub – although back in the 1940s, the great writer was more used to eating food brought in from elsewhere to soak up the beer.