Joe Mercer Nairne

The Climb

Joe Mercer Nairne trained at Eton, Oxford University, and Leith's School of Food and Wine, a route that gave him formal grounding before service work sharpened it into kitchen discipline. He then moved through a sequence of demanding restaurants, learning the pace, standards, and expectations that define serious trade kitchens. He worked in the kitchen at The Savoy Grill, where precision and speed would have been part of the routine. He worked in the kitchen at Chez Bruce, and there rose to sous chef at Chez Bruce, taking on greater responsibility within an already exacting environment. Later, he worked in the kitchen at Rockpool in Sydney, adding another respected kitchen to a path marked by steady progression. That path reads as accumulation rather than leap. Training came first, then service, then responsibility, then ownership and creative control. Today, Joe is co-founder and head chef of Medlar (since 2011) and co-founder of Cornus (since 2024), roles that show a career built on persistence as much as ambition.

Today

In 2011, Mercer Nairne co-founded Medlar in Chelsea, London, and took the role of head chef there the same year. The restaurant became the clearest expression of his way of working: a room shaped by his judgment, his pace, and the demands of service. Medlar sits on the strength of that practical control, with Mercer Nairne’s name tied to the daily decisions that keep it moving. “The crab ravioli I guess. It was never meant to stay on the menu but it’s so popular I can’t take it off. We’ve sold around 50,000 now.” The dish’s status is earned, not declared. Something intended as temporary has stayed because the room kept asking for it, which is how a menu item moves from an experiment to a fixture.

Signature

Joe’s signature dishes include Crab ravioli and Duck Egg Tart. In practical terms, they point to the kind of cooking that stays on a menu and in diners’ memories: dishes that carry enough identity to become associated with the chef behind them.

In Their Words “The crab ravioli I guess. It was never meant to stay on the menu but it’s so popular I can’t take it off. We’ve sold around 50,000 now.” “Being the chef at my own restaurant had been my goal from the outset and I followed that road pretty bloody-mindedly.”

Recognition

Around 50,000 crab ravioli sold is the clearest form of recognition here: not an abstract prize, but repeated orders over time. In the trade, that kind of number says something simple about a dish — it works, and people come back for it. His career also traces a plain line through The Savoy Grill, Chez Bruce, and Rockpool in Sydney before Medlar in Chelsea. The through-line is clear from his own words — he wanted his own restaurant, and he pursued that aim without much room for doubt.