Bistro 1709

Bistro 1709 occupies a Georgian-fronted building on Lombard Street in Lichfield, run by restaurateur John Ashmore with chef Mark Medley in the kitchen. The menu leans French in structure, with steaks, moules and a fixed-price lunch cooked to order rather than plated ahead of service. The dining room seats around forty across two floors, with a smaller room upstairs used for private parties. Medley's kitchen keeps the same format for lunch and dinner, working Tuesday to Saturday, with lunch service ending at two and dinner starting no earlier than half past five. Ashmore has traded under his own name in Lichfield for years rather than building a group brand, and the bistro has stayed the same size since opening, without a second site or a franchised version of the format opening elsewhere in the county.