Take a look inside Paley Street's new restaurant The Braywood

The company behind a new restaurant in Paley Street is hoping to forge its own identity on the historic site while respecting its legacy.

The Braywood has replaced the old Royal Oak venue – which once held a Michelin star and hosted French president Emmanuel Macron.

The renovation of the dining spot has been a challenging project and developers had to rebuild the 19th century pub’s historic core after it was demolished without the council’s permission.

But the venue is now open for service and operator, WSH Restaurants, is looking to plate up high quality dishes based on seasonal British produce.

Vicki Hamilton, head of PR & marketing at WSH Restaurants, said: “There is a huge legacy and it’s big shoes to fill. What we are doing here is very different to what was here before so in a lot of respects it’s not going to be comparable.

“We respect the legacy enormously but we’re a very forward-looking business and the menu hopefully reflects that and certainly the contemporary nature of the building reflects that also.

“We’ve given a good nod to what was here before in retaining the white façade of the building. There’s a huge legacy but we’re looking forward to pushing ahead and forging our own identity.”

The Braywood is the latest venue to be added to the company’s growing portfolio – which includes the acclaimed Woodspeen in Newbury.

It will be jostling for position alongside a number of renowned restaurants in the Maidenhead area but this has not deterred the restaurant operator.

Vicki added: “We’re in jolly good company. The opportunity presented itself, the site was there with a wonderful legacy. Why wouldn’t you?”

The kitchen will be overseen by Sam Brennan, previously head chef at The Woodspeen, who has pledged to offer a contemporary style of cooking focusing on seasonal British produce.

Typical dishes on the launch menu will feature starters such as Orkney scallops with black pudding, crab agnolotti with shellfish bisque and game terrine with lemon thyme brioche.

Main courses will include barbecued monkfish with salt-baked celeriac and mussels, halibut with clams and Jerusalem artichoke, Longhorn ribeye steak, and Chateaubriand to share.

The head chef told the Advertiser: “Our main focus is cooking good quality, locally sourced ingredients with beautiful service.

“I’m massive on flavour and trying to keep it simple and not overcomplicate things.

“We’ve tried to do some things a bit differently because we don’t want to be a complete copy and paste (of The Woodspeen).

“It’s just taking my experience of the group but putting my personality into that.”

The venue features a 70-cover dining room, cocktail bar and outdoor terrace seating.

The Braywood will open for lunch and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday, and lunch on Sundays.