Former Kerridge’s head chef Nick Beardshaw is to open his first restaurant as patron next month – Starling, in Esher on London’s southwestern fringe. He will be joined in the venture by manager James Shaw, a former assistant head sommelier at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.

The 40-cover venue on Esher High Street will have a straightforward menu highlighting British seasonal ingredients, with no more than five dishes offered for each course. Early options will include dishes that brought Nick success on TV’s Great British Menu, including the starter ‘A Moon-Shaped Pool” and dessert ‘Balloon Girl’. Also available will be Creedy Carver duck, Cornish jumbo plaice and Hamalyan salt-aged steaks.

James’s wine list will be similarly tight in its focus, with 10 bottles each of red and white wine available, half of them by the glass.

Nick spent 14 years working for Tom Kerridge, first at the Hand and Flowers before opening the Coach in Marlow and Kerridge’s Bar & Grill in the Corinthia hotel off Trafalgar Square. The name Starling is apparently a reference to the bird’s spectacular murmurations – the ultimate expression of teamwork.