Native goes wild for music as Covent Garden restaurant celebrates Music Makeover win
Forage specialists win PRS for Music’s national Music Makeover competition
Covent Garden’s Native, which combines foraged ingredients with Desert Island Discs-inspired playlists, is the latest avant-garde restaurant to win PRS for Music’s national Music Makeover competition, beating hundreds of entrants from the highest calibre of restaurants with music taste and panache across the country.
Tucked away in the heart of one of London’s most chic spots, Neal’s Yard, co-founders Imogen Davis and River Cottage-trained chef Ivan Tisdall-Downes, both only 30, opened Native’s doors last year after gleaning success and notoriety in the street food and pop-up restaurant scene. Taking their supper club character to Neal’s Yard, Native retains the pair’s original ethos, offering a memorable dining experience that encapsulates the best of British seasonal produce, combined with ingenious cooking methods and good old country thrift.
Winning the top prize of a professional consultation from renowned producer Steve Levine (Culture Club, Pet Shop Boys, The Beach Boys), Native now boasts a new surround-sound speaker system that creates an exceptional audiophile experience for both its customers and staff, combining sumptuous flavours with opulent sound.
With Native already in discussions with Sofar Sounds for live events, PRS for Music has also provided a new PA system and basic backline, including a couple of microphones and mic stands to allow performers to plug in and play. As part of the celebrations, PRS for Music hosted a launch party last night (Monday 16 October) with a special live performance from Cape Cub inside the restaurant to show off the new equipment.
PRS for Music launched the annual Music Makeover competition seven years ago to showcase and raise awareness of the important effect that music can have on local businesses. While food and music have always been a natural pairing, with some experts suggesting music can even have an impact on how food tastes, music plays a vital role in the Native experience, creating a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere for both staff and customers alike. Native staff combine all of their favourite tracks into one great recipe that’s proven so popular customers now follow the restaurant’s playlists online.
We are so delighted to have won. For us, music plays such a huge part in all of our lives and to be able to enhance the dining experience for our customers by improving our music equipment at Native is the best news ever! Thanks again PRS for Music!
All of us on the judging panel were so impressed with what Native had done so far with their business. We also enjoyed hearing about Imogen’s plans to add more music to the restaurant and we look forward to seeing these ideas develop in the future.
About PRS for Music
Here for music since 1914, PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 175,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers. Redefining the global standard for music royalties, PRS for Music ensures songwriters and composers are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public.
For 110 years it has grown and protected the rights of the music creator community, paying out royalties with more accuracy, transparency and speed. In 2023, PRS for Music paid out £943.6m in royalties and collected a record £1.08 billion in revenues. prsformusic.com
