The Village Tree is set to open on the ground floor of The Founding – British Land’s flagship residential building right outside the station
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Chefs Matt Lloyd and Tze-May Ng first met at the Shangri-La hotel in Sydney.
“I was working downstairs in the brasserie at the time and she was cooking at Altitude restaurant on the 36th floor,” said Matt.
“Their chefs would come down and steal all our equipment.
“It was pretty annoying until I also moved up to Altitude and then, somehow, it was fine.”
Having forged a bond at a venue overlooking Sydney Harbour and the billowing white sails of the city’s opera house, the couple resolved to move to London in 2007.
“It was all about the food,” said Matt.
“If you look back at that time it was the place to be. You had The Fat Duck and Gordon Ramsay still in the kitchen.
“If you wanted to learn about food, it was where you needed to go.”
Food has been something of a constant in Matt’s life. Born in Queensland, he spent his teenage years in Brisbane before winding up in Sydney.
“I always enjoyed cooking from a very young age and knew it was something I wanted to do,” he said.
“School wasn’t so good for me – I left at quite a young age, having arranged with the local council to do my apprenticeship and then it was straight into the kitchen.
“I was 21 when we moved to London and I worked in various restaurants around the city.”
Spells with the likes of Gary Rhodes and Michael Wignall followed, with both Matt and Tze-May cooking at the latter’s Michelin-starred Latymer in Pennyhill Park.
Matt then went on to join ETM Group, known at the time for its food-focused gastropubs, where he worked in a number of venues including running the kitchen at The Botanist in Sloane Square.
opening The Pear Tree
“A lot of chefs who have spent their time cooking eventually want to have their own place and I was the same,” said Matt.
“My dad had his own business when I was growing up – it was the main grocery store in the town.”
Having moved to the area around 2010, the couple saw an opportunity to bring a bit of Australia to south-east London.
“There were high street options like some good little cafés locally, but there were no all-day brunch restaurants, so I knew the area needed something,” said Matt.
“First we looked around Canada Water station, but the rents were a bit outrageous.
“I’d met the landowner of Greenland Place a few years earlier – we got along well and I liked her vision for the development.
“Then we had to decide what we wanted to open and, in 2016, the result was The Pear Tree.
“I really liked the idea of an Australian-inspired venue because nothing is out of place on the menu.
“We didn’t want to get stuck just doing modern British.
“Instead, we can have nice classic French dishes, Italian pasta or flavours from Polynesia or Asia.
“It’s a nice approach for a restaurant, where people can come for a full-on breakfast or a pastry with coffee or a juice.
“We’re quite lucky to have a varied audience here – some people come down with their laptops to do work.
“Younger mums visit throughout the day to socialise.
“We offer a very approachable all-day brunch menu and a wine list put together by our friends at Davy’s.
“We always have different things happening including wine nights and steak nights as well as a really popular Sunday roast.
“Then, at the front, we have a deli where we try to support smaller producers and stock a great selection of wines.”
expanding to Surrey Docks Farm
Over the pandemic the couple also started operating a venue at Surrey Docks Farm, initially as a deli and grocery and then as a full-blown café.
“If you go down to The Barn, you’ll find toasted foccacia sandwiches, which we make at The Pear Tree and deliver fresh every morning,” said Matt.
““Then there are lots of cakes, brownies and sausage rolls.
“We do many different specials throughout the week there too, depending on what’s in season.”
Now the story is set to continue, with Matt and Tze-May expanding once more to a new site.
The Village Tree is expected to open in early 2026 at the base of British Land’s flagship residential tower, The Founding.
The building is in the vanguard of the developer’s extensive regeneration of the wider Canada Water area and is located just outside the station.
“I guess you could say The Village Tree will be a mash up between our other two venues,” said Matt.
“We’re trying to give it its own identity, although visitors will find amazing fresh sandwiches, cakes and coffee, and other home-baked goods.
“We’re still working on a few different ideas for the food menu itself. We won’t have a full hot kitchen there, but we will be offering a very good selection.
“It’s not certain yet, but one of our ideas is to have pancakes or possibly waffles.
“We recently had a great trip to Belgium and we think nobody has brought that quality of waffle over here yet, so it would be wonderful to do that.”
a varied menu
What’s clear, when talking to Matt for any length of time, is that the passion he developed for food as a youngster is still the thing that drives him.
The Pear Tree’s menu is diverse, with potent dishes like Kimchi Eggs, Nasi Goreng and Dan Dan Noodles sitting next to roast grouse, smashed avocado on sourdough and steak with peppercorn sauce.
“Personally, I love the breakfast pancakes we serve until 5pm,” said Matt.
“They are my favourites, especially the top three options – Blueberry And Bacon with maple syrup, blueberry compote and fresh blueberries.
“Then there’s the Fried Chicken option with maple syrup or a really nice autumnal option with Apple And Walnut, which comes with a salted caramel sauce and a cinnamon crumble.”
key details: The Pear Tree, The Barn and The Village Tree
Matt and Tze-May currently run The Pear Tree at Greenland Place in Yeoman Street and The Barn at Surrey Docks Farm.
The Village Tree is set to open in early 2026 at The Founding in Canada Water.
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