Former Fat Duck chef Nick Rudge this week opened his second restaurant, called The Nest, in the historic town of Conwy on the north Wales coast. It follows The Jackdaw, whose ambitious tasting menu is described in the 2026 Harden’s guide as “Welsh cuisine at its best“.
Nick, who was born across the river in Llandudno, managed to secure a full-time position at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck straight out of Llandrillo College at the age of 19, and was part of the Fat Duck team that migrated to Melbourne for a six-month residency in 2015.
He returned to his home turf five years ago to launch The Jackdaw – the traditional nickname for people born within Conwy Castle’s walls. The Nest is a more casual and more accessible venue, with a very different food offering including an à la carte menu and its own burger.
“The Jackdaw has been a great success, but isn’t affordable for everyone and I have to respect that,” Nick says. “For a while now we’ve wanted to bring something more relaxed and affordable to Conwy – somewhere people can drop in for a really good meal and a cocktail or two, without needing the time or the budget for a full tasting menu.“
The Nest offers a lunch menu of sandwiches and bagels from 12 to 2pm, alongside an all-day menu of starters, mains and desserts that showcase local produce: Welsh charcuterie, whitebait, sea bass with seaweed butter and new potatoes or “a really nice fish cake, which isn’t 90 per cent mashed potato – it’s predominantly fish using local pollock, which is really delicious, from Mermaid Seafoods in Llandudno. Very simple, very few elements on the plate. And then also a really good steak and chips with a béarnaise sauce.
“Once The Nest gets up and running and we’ve found our feet a bit, we’ll start to put out specials.”
Nick admitted he was slightly intimidated by the sheer numbers, with hundreds of guests chasing bookings at the 90-cover Nest, after operating to small audiences at The Jackdaw.
“I’m fully booked for the first week, which is great,” he said ahead of opening on Wednesday this week. “It’s also scary – 20 guests a night over eight tables is very much what I’m used to.”
