CODE Quarterly | Issue 8 | Autumn 2016

Issue 8 Autumn 2016

Quarterly The eyes & ears of the hospitality industry Le Caprice | Chefs’ tattoos | Jikoni | Performance nutrition | Andrew Wong | Tuscany

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Contents 5

Editor’s letter

5

What’s hot. What’s not.

8

Restaurant gossip

11

Twenty little salesmen

12

Chefs’ tattoos

16

A brave new world

17 Jikoni 19

Change of use

20

Let’s get technical

21

Take a walk on the North-East side

24

35 years of Le Caprice

26

Performance nutrition

29

First impressions

34

CODE in conversation with Andrew Wong

38

The breakfast club

40

The God shot

42

Eat. Drink. Design.

46

Under the Tuscan sun

48

Instagram spotlight

49

24 hours in Edinburgh

50

Last orders

Front cover: Tattoo of a wild sea trout, Tom Adams, Pitt Cue Editor Adam Hyman

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CODE Quarterly is published four times a year by Nexus CODE Limited, 6th Floor, Greener House, 66-68 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RF. Registered no. 07950029 England and Wales. Printed by Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 6AE. -3-

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Creative Director James Wood

Contributors Mario Armani James Collins Callum Edge Charlie Hall Anna Sulan Masing Catherine Taylor Alun Thomas Emyr Thomas Martin Williams Mikey Williams Zeren Wilson James Wood

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Delivering hospitality Somewhat ironically, it seems that the short-term impact of Brexit on the hospitality industry has been a positive one despite restaurants reporting a poor month of trading in the build up to the EU referendum. Tourists have flocked to take advantage of the weak pound and London restaurants seem busy. Nevertheless the outcome of the referendum is extremely worrying for the hospitality industry. I read that over 75% of hospitality staff in London are from abroad. Speaking to a number of restaurateurs after 24 June, they all expressed a tone of embarrassment when they had to address their staff to explain that the UK had voted to leave the EU. Let’s hope Theresa May and her government can agree a sensible way forward and negotiate an exit from the EU that won’t leave our industry in the lurch.

Although London is now one of the best restaurant cities in the world, we’ve always lagged behind the US when it comes to food delivery. David Chang believes it’s the future and it seems the likes of Uber and Amazon do too, recently joining Deliveroo in ferrying food around the capital to hungry Londoners. It will be interesting to see how this part of the industry grows over the next couple of years and whether it has a negative impact on dining out.

Along a similar vein, there seems to be an appetite from operators for more kiosk setups in London. The transition to more casual dining options over the

past few years, twinned with the chunky rents and premiums for sites, has seen a demand for fast-casual operators that require less of a traditional restaurant format and a look for more hole-inthe-wall premises. I hope landlords and developers are starting to take this into account as not only is there a demand for it but it can be a clever way to curate a funky F&B offering in parts of London – especially around transport hubs – that normal restaurants wouldn’t be able to fit in.

Once again we have a great line-up of industry professionals contributing to this issue. Special thanks go to Tom Adams, Tom Sellers, Neil Rankin and Jemma Wilson, who all allowed us to take some close-up pictures of their inkings in our Chefs’ Tattoos feature (p.12). Adams’s wild sea trout tattoo is this issue’s front cover. Mario Armani, MD of Richard Corrigan’s restaurants, takes a look at what it takes to keep a restaurant relevant as Bentley’s turns 100 this year (p.16) and Martin Williams, founder of M Restaurants, argues that tech is the big post-Brexit opportunity for the industry (p.20).

We live in an age where there’s a surplus of information but not always reliable.

Our good friend Alun Thomas of Thomas & Thomas runs us through the change of use when it comes to A1 and A3 sites (p.19) and in the first of a series, Arsenal’s head of nutrition, James Collins gives us an overview on performance nutrition (p.26).

As pockets of London start to transform thanks to restaurants opening – Marylebone is a good example of this – I caught up with Ravinder Bhogal and Ratnesh Bagdai of Jikoni (p.17) – our regular columnist, Zeren Wilson pays homage to his local neighbourhood that has seen a mini restaurant revolution (p.

21). Callum Edge returns with two fun pieces – the first on the marketing power of restaurant matchbooks (p.11), whilst he also interviews a handful of London’s leading chefs on their first memorable meal (p.29). James Wood talks to the design agencies behind Padella and Sosharu (p.42), Anna Sulan Masing looks at the most important meal of the day (p.38) and Mikey Williams has a lesson in making the perfect flat white (p.40).

Finally, I interview Andrew Wong of A. Wong in Victoria (p.34) and Emyr Thomas of Bon Vivant Travel takes a tour around Tuscany (p.46).

Thank you for your support and as ever, questions and comments can be sent to me at: adam@codehospitality.co.uk

Adam Hyman Founder, CODE @AdamMHyman

What’s hot. What’s not.

OPEN Less of the same Second sites that don’t stick to the same formula. BAO Fitzrovia, Berber & Q Shawarma Bar and the upoming Kiln from Smoking Goat.

Small tables So the concept is sharing plates but the table is about the size of a postage stamp. Clever.

Tacos El Pastor from the Hart Bros and Breddos Tacos are both opening permanent spots soon.

Bottomless brunch Enough already. You’re an Italian restaurant – no need to serve Bloody Marys and fried chicken and waffles.

MENU

Cacio e pepe The de rigueur pasta dish of 2016.

Tuck in at The Colony Grill Room, Padella and Cacio & Pepe.

Dog-eared menus First impressions and all that. Time for some new menus to be printed.

Gingerella Made from organically grown ginger in Sri Lanka.

Available at Monocle Café, Honest Burger and Little Pitt.

Reconfirming reservations When the restaurant puts the onus on you to reconfirm the reservation you’ve already made. Whatevs.

Instagram takeovers Come up with your own content you lazy bastards.

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Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Camden The goths are gone and it’s all change in NW1. Dine at KERB, Butchies and Voodoo Ray’s.

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Boozy breakfast When Stuart Gregor, Cameron Mackenzie and Matt Jones created Four Pillars Gin in 2013, the tiny artisanal gin became an instant cult brand in Australia. As well as producing a rare dry gin, navy strength gin, barrel aged gin and bloody Shiraz gin, the Yarra Valley distillery also produce a breakfast negroni marmalade. Using the organically grown oranges that are left over from the distilling process and adding a dash of Campari, there’s now a new addition for the breakfast table.

Four Pillars breakfast negroni marmalade, AUS $9.00 for 160g from fourpillarsgin.com.au

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

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Restaurant gossip The latest goings on from the world of restaurants over the past three months.

London

Nova, Victoria The latest development from Land Securities in Victoria will host a range of notable offerings from Jason Atherton, Adam White (The Rail House Cafe) and Will Ricker (The Stoke House). Also opening will be Aster (D&D London), Sticks’n’Sushi, Barbecoa, Shake Shack, Franco Manca and Bone Daddies.

Margot Paulo de Tarso and Nicholas Jaouën are to open Italian restaurant Margot later this year in Covent Garden. The 100-cover Great Queen Street restaurant will be the first venture from the two former maitre d’s.

Dominique Ansel Bakery The cronut has arrived. Dominique Ansel is to open a branch of his eponymous bakery in Belgravia (above).

This will be his first opening in London following on from his New York original and an outlet in Japan. Down the road in Chelsea, Phil Howard is returning to the kitchen to launch Elystan Street alongside restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas.

Soho Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Neil Rankin is to open his first solo venture, Temper, on Broadwick Street. The new barbeque restaurant will have a big focus on meat but with plenty of vegetable dishes too. Also coming to Soho is Kiln, the second Thai venture from Ben Chapman, and Kricket, the first bricks and mortar site from Will Bowlby and Rik Campbell.

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Rest of the UK

Rest of the World

Drake & Morgan

Casual fare from EMP

Drake & Morgan are to open their first sites outside of London in Edinburgh and Manchester. The group is to open The Refinery as part of the new St Andrew Square development in Edinburgh, whilst opening another outlet under the same name in Spinningfields, Manchester.

Will Guidara and Daniel Humm, the helmsmen of the three Michelin starred Eleven Madison Park, are joining the fast-casualisation trend with Made Nice in the NoMad area of Manhattan. The counter-service restaurant will aim to provide high quality, quick-service food in the $12 to $15 price range.

Hispi Bistro, Didsbury

Gary Usher, the chef patron of Sticky Walnut (Chester) and Burnt Truffle (Heswall, Wirral) is to open the part crowd-funded Hispi Bistro in Didsbury Village, the suburban area of Manchester. He’s taking over the former site of Jem and I on School Lane, having had to abandon the original site in Chorlton.

Moor Hall, Lancashire

Plant-based burger A plant-based burger created by start-up Impossible Foods has gone on the menu at David Chang’s Momofuku Nishi in New York. Having raised $182m in equity and counting Bill Gates amongst its backers, the start-up aims to curb the unsustainable rate at which meat is consumed with its meat-free replacement. It even ‘bleeds’ as red meat does.

Mark Birchall, former executive chef at L’Enclume, is to open Moor Hall (above), his own restaurant-with-rooms in a Grade-II listed gentry house, situated in Aughton, Lancashire. In nearby Liverpool, the latest outpost of Manchester’s American-inspired all-day brasserie Neighbourhood will open headed up by chef Mike Jennings.

Soho House Barcelona and Mumbai

Bristol

America’s 10 Best New Restaurants

Elliott Lidstone, previously of The Empress in Hackney, is heading west to Bristol’s harbour side to open a new solo venture. Box-E Bristol, a small 14-cover restaurant with a four-seater kitchen table, is taking over a pair of old shipping containers in Wapping Wharf. Also coming to Bristol is the third instalment from Sanchez Brothers of Casamia fame, with the opening of Paco Tapas, a Spanish tapas and sherry bar from Peter SanchezIglesias and named after his father.

Bon Appétit’s recently released US Hot 10 list featured an eclectic range of new openings over the past year.

At number 1 was Atlanta’s not-for-profit Staplehouse.

Wildair from New York (from the Contra team) ranked eighth, whilst South Philly Barbecoa came in at sixth with its slow-cooked lamb and tacos.

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

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Nick Jones continues to grow his private members’ club empire. Their second house in mainland Europe opens in Barcelona (above) in October, followed by their first foray into Asia with the opening of Soho House Mumbai later in the year.

One chance to make A first impression

Your personal barware supplier 01264 33 44 75 - sales@chefxpress.co.uk -10-

Twenty little salesmen Callum Edge explores how restaurateurs are carrying the torch for the restaurant keepsake.

B

efore social media became all about the boastess with the mostess, one’s restaurant scorecard was tallied not by photographs and check-ins, but by something more tangible. The telltale sign of the socialite – particularly the gourmand, the bon viveur – was an overflowing bowl of matchbooks on the sideboard, a practical and convenient collectible whether a smoker or not.

There must have been something rather nostalgic about lighting up only to be brought back to memories of a particularly boozy lunch at Le Gavroche in the Eighties, say, or that reliable, if insalubrious little bistro that hosted many a business meeting in the backstreets of Victoria. The match was struck. Stories were told; gossip rehashed. That seemingly one-time experience became shareable and was once again enjoyed.

The matchbook’s utility as a cheap and effective marketing tool was first tapped in the late nineteenth century when the New York City Opera company promoted performances via illustrated match covers distributed around the city. Casinos, clubs, and restaurants soon followed suit realising that the matchbook had the potential to provide almost limitless exposure at very little cost. Indeed, the alternatives rarely hold the same value: bar coasters are often spoiled; a business card is lousy; and a menu is a cumbersome memento, difficult to liberate unblemished.

The concept of

restaurant swag,

Long have chef patrons peddled their latest cookbook at the foot of a menu in order that you, the guest, can try to replicate a dish at home that has cost an entire kitchen brigade the best part of ten years’ training and the benefit of an almost unlimited larder. Then in 2008 along came Adrian Gill’s “Breakfast at The Wolseley”, which provided a glimpse of the breakfast goings-on at Corbin & King’s European grand café on Piccadilly. Through Gill’s typically sage prose you can hear the murmur of early morning conversation and the smell of freshly baked Viennoiserie; you really sit with him as a guest whether you have visited the restaurant or not.

Keepsakes extend beyond literature at BAO, however, whose Instagram feed displays (among pictures of heavenly Taiwanese small eats) their tote bag candidly snapped in a variety of locations across the world – most recently: a corn field, a Greek beach, and up a Swiss mountain. The subtlety of the design (a black and white caricature eating a steamed bun) -11-

provokes curiosity for the uninitiated, but the bag’s ultimate purpose also ties in neatly with the importance of environmentalism for modern consumers. To coincide with their recent opening, the BAO range now includes natty limited edition workers jackets, white tees, and towels, all of which have become highly covetable foodster garb.

Whilst restaurants should refrain from becoming one stop shops, there would certainly appear to be space in the market for more ‘check-backs’: products out there to help spread the word to entice customers. In its time, the matchbook made for a functional souvenir – free to pick up, cheap to produce, and having an extraordinary reach. In an age where social media is clogged with the same emotionless, transient imagery, Shake Shack’s range of dog biscuits and KFC’s sunscreen might come over as a little less silly than they may have first seemed. A picture might say a thousand words, but a matchbook can say so much more.

Callum Edge @edgeandspoon

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

But sadly, the public image of those “twenty little salesmen” (the number of matches in the book) changed. A widely popular ban on public smoking both in the UK and across a large part of the US, as well as the recent rise in vaping, meant that matches have become an unnecessary expense for the restaurateur concerned about the bottom line. Fewer patrons feel the need to take a handful of matchbooks upon leaving a venue now that the lighter has become a household flame and that mobile phones can provide a longer lasting social impression.

however, has remained. Perhaps the most successful example, the global Hard Rock Cafe chain has been peddling a gamut of rock and roll memorabilia since its conception in 1971, using its iconic t-shirts to lure ignorant tourists to queue for questionable food in equally questionable surroundings. But more recently, amid a ferociously competitive climate, restaurateurs have tried to find ways in which the restaurant experience can in some way be brought home.

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Chefs’ tattoos

Tom Sellers

Restaurant Story & Restaurant Ours

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Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Neil Rankin

Temper

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Tom Adams

Pitt Cue, Little Pitt & Coombeshead Farm

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Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Jemma Wilson

Crumbs and Doilies

A brave new world Mario Armani, managing director of Richard Corrigan’s restaurants, looks at what it takes to keep a restaurant relevant.

F

irst we were dealing with ‘fast foods’ and now the ‘fast foodies’.

I feel like my grandfather when I harp back to the ‘good ole days’, so I won’t. I simply note that change is inevitable. However, what is it that is changing?

It is not only technology and produce that has changed in the restaurant business. It’s also the way that people patronage restaurants. It seems the days of discovering our favourite family haunt and sticking to it is quickly fading.

The modern fickle diner is chasing the next best thing. They’re guided by the visits of the grand gourmands seeking their new culinary target and once satisfied, record it on social media and anxiously seek out another hit.

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Like everything else, the restaurant industry is getting faster and rings familiar to what happened to other industries, such as music. No longer do songs stay at number one on the charts for 14 or 15 weeks. A three-week run at the top of the chart is considered a resounding success. There seems a voracious appetite to devour trends like the biblical locust and it’s quite unsettling.

The battle for survival takes place in a land we call London. Culinary counterfeits - known to the industry as ‘multiples’ - backed by money from our own pension funds are saturating the markets, attracting the Pokémon patrons and live under the constant threat of the home critic and even the TripAdvisor terrorists. Dotted between them, ethical food fighters try to prevail amongst the culinary chaos and noise.

In order to survive, one needs income generated by proverbial ‘bums on seats’.

As there’s a finite number of people in

London town at any one given time, you need to rely on repeat or loyal clientele.

Rents and rates reach fever pitch, as the landlords squeeze the ‘golden goose’ for every inch of profit inadvertently killing the business in many occasions.

The constant growth sees us all consuming from the same pool of talent slowly but surely creating an inevitable shortage of staff required to cook, prepare and serve your meal. Our industry is not a career that many revere or opt into as they once did. People often argue this with me. When was the last time that someone mentioned that their daughter or son was a waiter without following it with, they are working towards a career in something else?

Many positions are filled by European nationals working their way to a better life. British participation seems mostly back of house office support or management and Brexit consequences could see more consequences, we wait patiently.

There is an influx of wannabe celebrity and TV chefs, which oddly now has become an aspiration. People often in interviews tell me that their five year plan is to become a celebrity chef. I’m not sure that I would rate that as an occupation, rather than a label afforded to chef that has successfully translated to television. My mother calls this the ‘Kardashian effect’. People think that enough social media followers can make you famous for doing nothing.

Many fail to see that social media at that level can be as technical as an Olympic sport. Sadly sometimes it can indeed simply involve a bare breast or a cute kid repeating ‘Listen Linda’ over and over, oh my, what has become of us?

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From someone who has dedicated thirty years in the industry, developing and protecting culinary institutions such as Bentley’s - incidentally celebrating a hundred years of trading this year has become a specialised skill. Keeping our core ethos and shapeshifting to adapt to the market trends. Although our secret weapon, Michelin star chef Richard Corrigan, devotes his life to traditional practices in the kitchen, he would be just as comfortable behind the editorial desk of a major broadsheet.

I remember him trying to get us on board with Twitter. We dismissed it initially. The importance of social media, such as Twitter and Instagram, is now unquestionable.

People in the know understand that quality alone will not bring success as many of us talk openly of the Michelin accolades that can make a chef and finish the business. We have entered a new era in hospitality, a coming of age and now, in my opinion it is an ambitious and fickle eighteen year old.

To bring it back to my musical analogy, our industry feels that it is now in its teenage pop years. I believe that everything in life comes full circle and I know that there is a return to slow food, honest cooking and ethical eating.

A lot of industry oldies are celebrated as classics and slowly noted on the lucrative hipster dance card. Only time will tell if we can still withstand the test of time in this brave new world.

Mario Armani @MarioArmani1 Mario Armani is managing director of Richard Corrigan Restaurants Ltd.

Jikoni CODE’s Adam Hyman talks to Ravinder Bhogal and Ratnesh Bagdai about their new restaurant in Marylebone.

C

hiltern Street – probably the most talked about London street over the past few years – has helped put Marylebone on the map again. The French hedge funders have now set up home in this part of central London, queuing outside Providores on the weekend and the area has returned to being far more residential.

However, it now seems like it’s Blandford Street’s turn for the spotlight. The thoroughfare between Marylebone High Street and Baker Street has always had a culinary edge with Trishna and most recently, Xavier Rousset’s Blandford Comptoir. Before the end of the year, a new French wine bar is to open in the Tudor Rose pub and this month sees Jikoni open in the former Roganic popup site.

Jikoni is the first opening from chef Ravinder Bhogal and restaurant consultant, Ratnesh Bagdai, who have joined forces to open this 50-cover mixed heritage restaurant. Bhogal is no stranger to Marylebone. She did a residency at both Trishna, the restaurant owned by the Sethi family, and Carousel. “The inspiration for Jikoni comes from the idea of the maternal kitchen”, says Bhogal. “I’ve been so lucky to meet many amazing women during my life who I’ve had the opportunity to cook with. From Zimbabwe to Palestine, I’ve gone into women’s kitchens and they’ve shared recipes and culinary tricks. I want Jikoni to be a legacy of women who have shared their knowledge with me.”

“It’s actually rather funny”, notes

Bhogal is very clear that Jikoni is not an Indian restaurant. “I consider myself as much African, as I am Indian, as I am British. I’m a real London girl.

When my mother arrived in the UK, she didn’t speak a word of English. She was an amazing chef but had not got the opportunity to work in a restaurant because she didn’t speak the language.”

This is one of the reasons why Bhogal is looking to partner with the Council for Refugees and start training women through her kitchen.

Bhogal wants Jikoni to feel like an extension of her home; her maternal kitchen. “We’ve both been very hands on with the interior design. I’ve managed to drag Ratnesh out of the boardroom and to choose paint colours. I’ve chosen terrazzo tiling for the back – it’s a sort of conservatory that overlooks a church steeple. It will have a jade pink wall, as well as lots of greenery and foliage in the area. There’s going to be a large kitchen counter to eat at, as well as two communal tables on the ground floor and a reading table”, notes Bhogal.

Our conversation turns towards the food at Jikoni. “Because I’m from north India, there’s a huge Persian influence when it comes to spices and flavours”, explains Bhogal. Almost in unison they say how there’ll be some sharing elements as well as larger dishes. The restaurant will also offer a brunch on weekends but don’t expect your usual eggs Benedict. Expect dishes such as Piña Colada pancakes, caramel pineapple, coconut ice cream and mutton Keema Sloppy Joe, with pickled onions and mint chutney.

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“We’re both very aware that people are eating so differently now, especially at lunch”, says Bagdai. “There’s no finite structure at Jikoni. If you want to spend 30 minutes for lunch over a quick glass of wine and a couple of sharing plates, that’s just fine. It’s all about engaging with the local neighbourhood. We want to keep our prices accessible.”

Bhogal says, “there’s nothing more I hate than that feeling of leaving a restaurant and feeling like you’ve been ripped off. You’ll be able to come in for lunch and leave spending about £20, if you so wish.”

I ask them both what the future holds for their new business and whether we will expect more Jikonis in London. “We definitely see ourselves as a group that will grow”, says Bagdai. “Our priority is to get Jikoni up and running first but London is bigger than just the West End. There’s some really interesting neighbourhood areas in Zone 2, where I reckon our restaurants could work.”

“We have certain ideas for other restaurants that will be different but linked to Jikoni”, notes Bhogal. “But Jikoni is a concept so close to my heart – it’s almost autobiographical.”

Adam Hyman @AdamMHyman Jikoni 19-21 Blandford Street Marylebone W1U 3DH jikonilondon.com

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Bhogal first met Bagdai – the CFO of Brindisa group of restaurants and former business partner with Mark Hix – when she was doing a popup at HIX Selfridges. Bagdai, who has worked in the London restaurant industry for over 20 years, says, “I seeded the idea with Ravinder about four years ago, but it wasn’t until a couple of years later that they we properly talked about it.”

Bhogal. “I’d chased Ratnesh a few times about the restaurant but he’s a busy man and hadn’t gotten back to me.

I was having lunch with Jay Rayner and was telling him about this and that I’d be seeing Ratnesh that night at a party at Tramshed. Jay being Jay, suggested I should tell him it’s too late now and this particular boat had sailed.” Needless to say, the conversation turned out rather differently.

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Change of use In the first of a new series to help independent restaurateurs, Alun Thomas of Thomas & Thomas looks at the differences between A1 shops and A3 restaurants.

T

he evolving change in casual food trends has blurred the distinction between the use classes. Many operators profer a mixed offering, which do not fall neatly within the use classes. What constitutes a restaurant, or perhaps mixed restaurant and retail use, is therefore a matter of fact and degree.

Factors taken into account include the respective amount of hot and cold food sales off and on a premises, the

upon permitted development. Any plant, signage, physical development or extraction equipment proposed will require planning permission.

If you require a permanent change of use, the permitted development rights were extended further in April 2015 to include permanent changes of use from A1 to A3 in certain circumstances. Evidence will still be required as to the noise, odour, transport, hours of operation and

“The evolving change in casual food trends has blurred the distinction between the use classes.”

All is not lost: Permitted development rights allow changes of use from A1 to A3 without the need for planning permission for up to 2 years. This only applies to premises that are; under 150 sq. metres, not listed, not a scheduled monument, not located within a site of special scientific interest or hazardous. Also this provision does not apply if the site has at any time in the past already relied

waste impacts of the proposals and also justify the loss of retail use.

Don’t forget external seating which in some councils requires both planning permission and a temporary street trading licence. That may also impact on whether the use is A1.

There is no reason in licensing terms that you cannot apply for a premises licence for an A1 use. The risk of course is that if the use is not A1 then the council could take enforcement action. Where it can get tricky is where some council’s (such as Westminster) require food to be an -19-

This article is not intended to be detailed legal advice for which you should always contact a solicitor.

Alun Thomas @T_A_T_P Alun Thomas is a partner at Thomas & Thomas Partners, who specialises in premises licensing and planning law.

For further information, email Alun: athomas@tandtp.com

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

character of the unit, the primary use and the percentage of floor area covered in seating and whether there is primary cooking and extract.

element of the alcohol sales or indeed requiring alcohol to be served with a table meal, whereas A1 would require that the primary activity is the sale of cold food for consumption off the premises. Such restrictions often catch casual dining options where counterservice or take-away is involved.

The good news is there is often a way of tweaking such conditions or restricting the use in other respects to make the application “policy compliant”. Other council’s such as Hackney and Islington have a policy to refuse licensing applications if the “correct” planning is not in place.

That takes us full circle to whether and what the planning is for a particular use and why it’s important to get early advice when considering both your offer and location of your premises.

Let’s get technical Martin Williams, founder of M Restaurants, argues that tech is the big post-Brexit opportunity for the hospitality industry.

T

here are many parallels between the Brexit situation and poor hospitality. A collective of disenfranchised British folk’s protest lead to us leaving the EU. Another collective’s protests lead to the success of TripAdvisor. I would happily live without both Brexit and TripAdvisor, but both are a reality for the modern restaurateur.

Allow me to quickly give you my ‘elevator explanation’ of why I believe Brexit happened. I was brought up in the North East of England, so I will use it as an example; Teeside is an

jobs and taxes in the country. This anger is often irrational and a result of jealousy, but when the majority of people (in this case the 52% of voters) feel marginalised and bereft of purpose; they rise! The country has now changed and we need to seek the opportunities.

I love living in London, for no greater reason than that our fine city is a microcosm of the world that embraces international culture, cuisine and a world attitude to life. The Brexit result means that as both a society and as the hospitality industry, to ensure success;

“...the winners and losers in hospitality over the next decade will be decided by those who embrace technology...”

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area of England that was reliant on steel, gas, petrochemical and mining industries to provide jobs for the fine folk who lived there. As these trades became unprofitable or outdated, little or no alternative industry replaced them, so people became unemployed and the decline of the area began.

Fast forward two decades later (after the talent has moved out of the area to find work elsewhere); you are left with a county which feels alienated and lacks both leadership and purpose.

Whether an unemployed habitue in a lost British region, or an employee in the hospitality industry; people have a requirement for strong leadership, a sense of belonging and a feeling of elite. Without which you are left with individuals devoid of purpose, susceptible to fall into lazy habits, who are angry and need to both blame and protest.

The Brexit vote was indeed such a protest vote which expressed anger against London and against the hard working immigrants who have created so much wealth, talent,

we must now work much harder to be more liberal, generous and appreciative of both our workforces and guests than ever.

Where are the opportunities? Of course, you can talk about growth strategy, menu offering and much more. However, for me, the greatest factor which will define the winners and losers in hospitality over the next decade will be decided by those who embrace technology to provide what we refer to at M as ‘heightened hospitality’. The industry - with notable exceptions - still thinks as guests as at worst, numbers, at best, customers. In the past months I have received incredible recognition as a guest of Home House, Trinity and the Ivy Chelsea Garden. I have also received appalling levels of hospitality at some of the most high profile restaurants of recent times. It is sadly the latter which seems the norm.

Through a half decent reservation system (and there are some excellent ones) every restaurant has the opportunity to recognise repeat -20-20-

guests and show gratitude for their returning custom. The tool is there - the challenge is to create a culture where your team understand the power of a warm welcome. At M we recently won a Catey for ‘Best use of Technology’ with our reservation tool, which allows guests to ‘Choose a Seat’ airline style, before they dine. It was really inexpensive to create this, but we had the desire to go above and beyond. Our rationale to do this was not particularly to offer an industry first, but to allow our guests to begin a bespoke experience from the point of booking.

So how far can tech take the restaurant experience? At M we believe the opportunities are endless: another experience enhancing tech tool we are using at the moment is Google VR (Virtual Reality). When ordering a dish we have on the menu in M Victoria Street containing Cobia; guests are invited to don a pair of VR goggles and watch a short movie which takes you to the home of the world’s most sustainably farmed fish.

It’s interactive, fun, informative and entertaining. Theatre in your dining room.

Recently, I have also been researching ‘drone sommelier’ technology. I have however, re-assured Zack, our Director of Wine that his award winning skill can never be made redundant – eye contact and a smile to indicate guest recognition require the human touchat least until 2025, I reckon.

Martin Williams @thereisoneM Martin Williams is the founder of M Restaurants.

A walk on the North-East side Zeren Wilson enthuses about the evolution in dining and drinking options in his ‘hood.

I

t has happened. After waiting forlornly for a worthy food and drink scene to reach us in this patch of London for many years, something has finally ‘popped’ in a way that has had me gleefully agog.

The last year or so has seen some particularly encouraging activity, with Leyton, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Wanstead and Woodford all spawning excellent openings. There’s a palpable sense that things have moved up a couple of gears. I’ve never spent so much time dashing around the area where I grew up. The thrill of being able to walk through most of it, joining up the dots from one spot to the next, feels nothing short of a seismic shift to this local lad.

Woodford, hugging the borders of Essex and North-East London, has seen perhaps the most surprising arrival with The Woodford. Here a talented Pierre Koffmann protégé, Ben Murphy, is shaking out some serious Michelin star aspiring moves in the kitchen. Within walking distance from my old primary school too? Mental.

The handsome Grade II listed building of the former West Essex Conserative Association, where Sir Winston Churchill was based while MP for Woodford and Wanstead, has been transformed into bar and restaurant The Manor House. The garden at the front is the suntrap of dreams.

eggs, and serving good coffee from Climpson and Sons. Another café of note is 56 St James, tucked behind Walthamstow Market by St. James Street station. I’m still waiting for a really belting pub to do the business…

It may seem to some that these changes are ‘small fry’ compared to some parts of town, but after years of looking covetously across the capital to areas like Brixton, Peckham, Clapham and Camberwell, and the wealth of their exciting restaurant options, the ripples from nearby Hackney and Clapton have pushed out a little further as

“We’ve never had so many food writers traipsing out of Central line stations...” flatbreads and pide of particular note. Panda Dim Sum Café looks no great shakes from the outside (proper shonky looking) but step inside, order Mr Yan Feng Zhou’s dumplings, take your own booze – this wonderful little spot is the archetypal ‘hidden gem’.

A short hop away, Leyton has been making its own moves with wine bar and shop Yardarm (good wine, great garden), Marmelo Kitchen (a devastating Croque Monsieur) and Deeney’s Café with their cracking haggis and cheddar toastie.

Walthamstow has been guilty of being wonderfully stubborn when it comes to offering up decent dining options, despite being “up and coming” for many more years than the areas mentioned, but the tremors have started here too. Clapton’s Sodo Pizza Café have opened their new place next to the revamped old EMD Granada cinema (re-opened as Mirth, Marvel and Maud after being shut for years), and Orford Road in the ‘village’ has been re-energised and given a makeover, now hosting the weekly food market. Bühler and Co. from sisters Meg and Rosie is a new café cooking sparky and imaginative vegetarian dishes, wonderful baked -21-

operators seek to exploit areas ripe for a kick up the derrière.

We’ve never had so many food writers traipsing out of Central line stations, dabbing the nose bleed that starts at some point after Stratford, and proceeding on to the latest reason to drag them out this far into Zone 4.

What’s next? It’s Tottenham. No joke.

Taking a walk on the North-East Side is no longer a walk of shame.

Zeren Wilson @bittenwritten Zeren Wilson is a food and wine writer, consultant and runs bittenandwritten.com

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A twenty minute walk away in Wanstead, in just the last few weeks has seen the excellent Italian grill Bombetta open (exit Snaresbrook tube and practically fall into a seat opposite the grill), as well as a swish new Ginger Pig (a big deal for Wanstead, and a very welcome one for the area).

Their sausage roll now within walking distance? Yes please, I’ll take two. New fishmonger Wanstead Fish was very much needed, and the High Street is now becoming useful as well as retaining the village feel which it has always had. Early signs of an upturn began with the arrival of French bistro Provender in 2013, run by Max Renzland, a real gourmand and veteran of Michelin starred dining.

Keep walking and leafy Wanstead makes way to London proper and Leytonstone. Recent arrival Mora is a beacon of good eating on an unlikely looking strip of shops, an Italian restaurant that spanks all other Italians for many miles outta the park with their fantastic homemade pasta and Sardinian dishes. Never did I think I’d be scarfing pappardelle with wild boar ragù and spaghetti with sea urchin just seconds from Muscle Hut Gym, while gazing across at the Discount Tile Centre. Yeah, the location is exotic. A few doors away Oven East is pumping out good Turkish dishes, the lahmacun

Soho House & Co and Sydell Group x CODE

Soho House & Co and Sydell Group will open The Ned in the City of London early next year.

Banking Hall, including a Cecconi’s City of London, sister restaurant to the Cecconi’s in Mayfair, Berlin, Barcelona, Miami Beach and West Hollywood.

The hotel, members club and collection of restaurants is set in the former Midland Bank building, designed by Sir Edwin ‘Ned’ Lutyens in 1924. The building will have nine restaurants, 252 bedrooms, a members club and extensive fitness, spa, beauty and grooming facilities.

Ned’s Club offers a range of private rooms and facilities for members. Ned’s Club Upstairs has a rooftop with a pool, Canopy Bar & Restaurant and two further bars in the building’s domes.

Ned’s Club Downstairs sits in the belly of the building, in the bank’s vault. The space contains a lounge bar, over 3,000 stainless steel safety deposit boxes and retains the original twenty tonne, two-metre-wide vault door.

The Ned’s food offerings span the globe, from Britain to Northern Italy, North America to China. Eight of the restaurants sit in the Grand

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01 The Ned

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thened.com

02 Cecconi’s

Gareth Banner Formerly general manager of the St Pancras Renaissance, Gareth Banner has been appointed as managing director of The Ned.

“When it comes to staff, arguably the Ned will be the most encompassing hotel team in London – every position will be employed in-house.”

Gareth Banner, Managing Director, The Ned

Niels Kristensen

03 Rooftop pool

Previously of D&D London, Niels Kristensen is director of food and beverage at The Ned.

The hotel, members club, restaurants, fitness, spa, beauty and grooming teams are now actively recruiting for a team of 800 staff. As well as taking on employees in typical hotel roles, such as chefs and receptionists, the team is also looking for people in a wide range of specialist positions, ranging from nail bar technicians to graphic designers and logistics managers.

04 Rooms

All Ned employees will have the opportunity to learn and grow, with a wide range of training and courses. Many Soho House directors started as bar and waiting staff, so a role at The Ned really could mean the beginning of a career, rather than just a job.

For further information about the roles, please email careers@thened.com -23-

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Image credit: Paul Winch Furness

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

35 years of Le Caprice

T

he number of London restaurants that ring a bell with those outside of the industry can probably be counted on one hand. I’m not a betting man but I reckon you could stop someone in the West End and reel off the likes of The River Café, The Wolseley, Le Gavroche and The Ivy and they’d recognise these dining institutions, but otherwise you might struggle.

Except, of course, there’s Le Caprice. Tucked down a cul-de-sac in the shadow of the Ritz, where St James’s meets Mayfair, Le Caprice shuns the usual restaurateurs theory about success when it comes to

the offer of dishes as both starters and main-courses unprecedented and the notion that we would do things like letting the customer choose whether coffee was served “with or after” dessert was positively radical”, says King.

restaurant empire – very little has physically changed. There have only been three doormen over the past 15 years – an important factor to regulars and something Adorno adopted from

He goes on to say that, “other restaurateurs made a sweepstake on how long we would last and in truth we had greater support from the denizens of New York than London where they readily embraced the newcomers such as Odeon. However change was afoot and thanks are due to Mario & Franco, who had started to break down the barriers of class and opened the way towards more egalitarian eating. The

Corbin & King after they’d moved on.

The native Bolivian also added some padding to the original 1970s bistro chairs and opened a small terrace at the front of the restaurant a couple of years back. The other thing that has changed, notes Adorno, “is that running the restaurant back in the day was less about the bottom line but over the time I’ve had to learn about the bottom line.”

location, location, location. As AA Gill says in the Le Caprice book, “the three most important rules for a successful restaurant are ‘atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere.”

The Arlington Street restaurant was opened in September 1981 by Jeremy King, Chris Corbin and fashion designer Joseph Ettedgui. It opened at a time when the majority of new catering ventures went bankrupt within two years. 35 years later it’s still there.

I asked Jeremy King why he thought Le Caprice was such a game-changer and is still going strong so many years later. “Opening Le Caprice in 1981 was not easy as we were faced by a reactionary world of restaurant goers who just didn’t understand what we were trying to do whether in the décor, food or service style. Remember that the design was thought to be “too hard & modern”, the menu too wacky,

And if the walls – lined in black and white David Bailey photographs – could talk they would no doubt have some stories from the past 35 years.

Princess Diana used to lunch regularly at Le Caprice. On 31 August, 1997, the night after her death, her table was kept empty. Whenever Vanity Fair editor, Graydon Carter, is in town, Conde Nast’s Nicholas Coleridge takes him to break bread there.

Luckily we also have Jesus Adorno, who has worked at the restaurant from the day it first opened. Although the restaurant has changed hands a number of times since 1981 – most notably it was owned by Luke Johnson for a while and is now under the stewardship of Richard Caring’s -25-

At a time when London is becoming saturated by concepts and brands chasing trends, Le Caprice stays wonderfully oblivious to the transforming restaurant scene around it. Regulars still return for the eggs Benedict, the chopped steak and the Bang Bang chicken salad. And long may it continue.

Adam Hyman @AdamMHyman

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Le Caprice broke the restaurant mould when it arrived on the scene. Corbin and King kept the restaurant open till midnight – a first in the West End – so that the post theatre crowd could come in for dinner and like all of their restaurants since Le Caprice, their diners come from all backgrounds. A dining room purely full of suits loses its atmosphere.

most important starting point for a restaurateur in deciding what their restaurant should be is to create somewhere they would like to go and that was the essence of Le Caprice.

In many ways it was an amalgam of Chris’s and my experiences at Langan’s and Joe Allen respectively and the working title could have been “Joe Langan’s”. But longevity isn’t a gift of the concept or design, but of the staff who maintain it and having Jesus Adorno as the fulcrum of Le Caprice goes a long way towards the secret of its success.”

Not only have people grown up in Le Caprice - the comedian Jack Whitehall, who used to come in with his parents, drew a picture when he was eight years old that Adorno still has – there’s a strong alumni from the Arlington Street restaurant including maitre d’s Kevin Lansdown and John Andrews. Mark Hix, who was head chef there says, “Le Caprice is a timeless classic London restaurant and I certainly learnt a thing or two there at the helm with Corbin and King. I’d say it will still be there in another 35 years time and so it should be.”

Performance nutrition As head of nutrition at Arsenal Football Club, James Collins advises top athletes on what to eat.

He takes a look at how the hospitality industry can learn from the world of elite sport.

“The nutrition industry is in the middle of a real boom, but there has also never been so much noise and confusion, caused by unqualified ‘gurus’...”

H

ealthy eating has been in the press a lot recently. From the likes of Deliciously Ella and the Hemsley sisters, we seem to have become a nation obsessed with ‘clean eating’. But we’re in danger

including physiotherapists, doctors and conditioning coaches to provide the best support for the players.

When it comes to food and nutrition, I work closely with a team of chefs.

“The ethos and messaging around food is always positive...”

Sport and hospitality: a team game

We have a head chef at our training facilities, an executive travel chef who will travel with us for European matches, and we work closely with the staff in hotels when we travel. We meet each morning to discuss food ideas and challenge each other to achieve the best solutions for the players. Many top Champions League teams can have more than 15 different nationalities in the squad, so that provides a real challenge, to create a range of dishes, which players enjoy but which also meet their nutrition requirements.

It’s often talked about, but like in hospitality, teamwork is critical within elite sport. We work closely together as a medical and performance team,

The ethos and messaging around food is always positive and we strive to promote enjoyment. Our players aren’t on diets, and we don’t calorie count - they are

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of following these trendy fads that have no scientific proof and seem purely geared towards achieving a certain aesthetic than actually understanding the nutritional benefits of food when twinned with physical exercise.

In the first of a new series for CODE Quarterly, James Collins introduces us to performance nutrition and how the hospitality industry can benefit from it.

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given advice and plans to fit into their lifestyle. I want our players to eat high quality food ahead of any supplements, and to enjoy the experience with teammates, friends and family. We also encourage them to eat in good quality restaurants and give them guidance on navigating the menu when eating out.

Eating and travelling Travel is another area we invest a lot of time on in elite sport. Travel schedules are planned in detail to minimise jet lag and travel fatigue but because we spend so much time in the air and on the road, we can’t afford to compromise on quality of food.

In 2014, I was brought in to work with the England team at the World Cup in Brazil. Managing the travel nutrition was a focus for us. We fly charter which allows us to plan a bespoke menu, and serve food at the right times, to help players recover and help to them to arrive fresh.

Our travel chefs will always fly in advance of the teams’ arrival, to work with hotels on our requirements – some parts of Brazil were more challenging than others. During one of our matches in Sao Paulo, we even had a chef with hot plates in the dressing room at the stadium preparing the post-match meal.

I’m now starting to apply these

principles to a range of frequent travelers, and even pilots have wanted further information on how to be more fresh upon arrival – a lot of this just comes down to the planning. There is a lot more that can be done to improve travel, to minimise the fatigue of travel.

Working beyond elite sport After the London Olympics in 2012, my client list really started to broaden from athletes - I started getting phone calls from the world of performing arts – in particular actors and musicians with demanding schedules. They wanted to achieve a certain look but to also fuel their bodies to maintain energy during grueling schedules.

I have found with performing artists, many are on a constant diet to look their best on stage and screen, but often neglect the energy required to deliver a performance – it’s my job to give them the tools to manage both. The same can be applied to those working in hospitality.

We are in the middle of an extremely challenging time. The nutrition industry is in the middle of a real boom, but there has also never been so much noise and confusion, caused by unqualified ‘gurus’ and mixed messages from the media.

For me, firstly professionals need to work within their sphere of training and expertise. Not ‘jack of all trades’ without qualification or professional registration. In elite sport we have clear remits; as a nutritionist, chef, conditioning coach – this works well as we work within our specialisms to deliver a premium service – this is what I feel needs to be replicated outside.

Governance of professions is also key – my profession, nutrition, has a notorious history for people pushing supplements and practicing ‘the dark arts’ – we are setting up independent bodies to change this, but it will take time.

It’s not all negative – the Instagram movement has got people more ‘in tune’ with their bodies and using nutrition and exercise – but there needs to be remits for ‘health promotion’, so as not to devalue other professional services.

Reporting also needs to improve. Over the last five years column inches related to nutrition and fitness have increased -27-

dramatically, but these often lack any continuity – a series of recipes, some supplement adverts, and some research shoehorned in. One week Omega 3 is good, the next week it’s the devil.

I feel the challenge here isn’t to provide more content; we’re swimming in it. I feel we need to see a movement towards, less, better-quality content, which has continuity – to help clients cut through the noise.

James Collins Jamescollinsnutrition.com @JamesnCollins1 In future editions, James will be providing tips on how to apply performance nutrition to support hospitality lifestyles.

James Collins is Head of Nutrition at Arsenal Football Club. He’s worked with some of the world’s best athletes over the last decade with previous roles in Olympic and professional sport.

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Not being from this world it took a while to learn about their daily challenges and the physical demands – I soon realised there was such a large overlap in the physical and mental demands from elite sport – it’s the same science just applied to this new, more fluid environment.

Thoughts on the nutrition industry

The core principles of performance nutrition

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Performance nutrition is the philosophy of optimising your diet to get the very best results on a daily basis. This approach has enabled some of the best athletes in the world to become fitter, leaner and perform at their best. It will give you the foundation of a healthy body, a happy mind and a more productive lifestyle. It’s all built around four key principles:

1. The individual

3. The activity

Everyone is different and we all have individual needs from our nutrition, depending on how active your lifestyle is. Understanding your physiology and identifying your individual needs is key to get the best results. Performance nutrition is a lifestyle ‘upgrade’, for a healthier, better you.

Food provides the fuel your daily activity and your body requires different amounts of energy depending on how active you are. Regular exercise needs the correct nutrition in order for you to be effective and the performance nutrition approach will give you tools to get the best results.

2. The goal

4. The mind & body

Your personal goals require a nutrition plan that is bespoke to you. Performance nutrition will target your key goals, whether that’s getting fitter, improving energy levels, losing weight or simply living a healthier and more productive lifestyle. First comes a commitment to value your body and health like athletes or actors – and invest time in it.

Both the mind and the body need to be in tune with your nutrition. Performance nutrition will give you the support to creating winning habits and behaviours that provide you with a foundation to help you look and feel great.

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First impressions Chefs are so often asked about what they’d eat for their final supper. However, Callum Edge takes a handful of London’s finest chefs down memory lane to find out what was their most memorable first meal.

L

ast meals are only ever talked about by the un-incarcerated.

There’s often a dreadful point when chattering class supper conversation dries up – and it is always at supper, never over drinks, neither breakfast nor lunch – and someone pipes up, “So what would you eat before you died?”

We like to think that it will be a time of celebration surrounded by friends and family before we belch off into the sunset. So we plan a meal to make even Solomon blush; or a dinner comprising champagne, oysters and chocolate in such quantity that the coroner will be left with only one option – “cause of death: aphrodisiac”.

But in reality the last dish to pass our lips is likely to be uninspiring, bland, designed for both ease of access and departure. Anecdotal tales of those who do get the choice seem to suggest a shocking lack of imagination, with fried chicken topping the death row list – but perhaps it’s unsurprising: as far as an appetite suppressant goes, the imminent buzz of the electric chair must surely score highly.

First meals, on the other hand, are rarely spoken of. That’s not to describe the first thing that passed one’s lips, but a formative moment, a sense of euphoria, where sustenance is overcome by pleasure – an awakening – and usually the beginning of a slippery slope: the love of eating.

Heston Blumenthal has spoken of his experience in his teens, where he visited the two Michelin-starred L’Oustau de Baumaniere in Provence with his parents: the crunch of the gravel, the softness of the tablecloth, the scent of lavender. He paints a picture of serenity, comfort, a time when the rest of the world turns off and life only involves the here and now.

Indeed, many of us that love the industry – on either side of the pass – will have experienced something similar. We will have had a moment, a Platonic benchmark to which all future meals will be compared.

So we gave some of London’s leading hospitality folk the broadest of briefs: what was the first meal that got you into eating?

Erchen Chang

BAO

Where? Muzha, Taipei.

When? From the age of 8 to 12, every Saturday.

With whom? It was usually after the half day at school. I’d go to my grandparents house, but they would have already eaten. So I would be by myself in the basement dining room in front of a TV. What you ate/drank? 15 handmade boiled dumplings with raw garlic in soy dip.

Callum Edge @edgeandspoon

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What made it special? I remember the steam coming from the freshly boiled dumplings. The skin was so well cooked. The dumplings were piping hot, juicy, and the ratio and combination of the meat and the dumpling pastry was at its best. A moment of pure joy.

Will Bowlby

Kricket

Where? At home in Sussex.

When? I must have been about 5.

With whom? My family.

Sandia Chang

Merlin Labron-Johnson

Bubbledogs & Kitchen Table

Portland and Clipstone

Where? Chez Panisse, California.

Where? My first restaurant meal that really opened my eyes to food was at Michael Caines’s restaurant in Exeter, Devon where I eventually worked.

The head chef was Ross Melling who had been at The French Laundry and I think he is now a chef de cuisine for Thomas Keller.

When? 2001.

With whom? A boyfriend back then (but don’t tell my husband, James [Knappett]!)

What you ate/drank? The tasting menu that day. The starter was fresh Monterey Bay anchovies, slightly soused with citrus and fennel salad.

Main course was hand cut tagliatelle with fresh, local mushrooms. Dessert was a simple Santa Rosa plum tart. It’s very unlike me, but I can’t remember what I had to drink that meal!

What made it special?

I remember it so well because of the simplicity of the dishes and just allowing the quality and freshness of those ingredients shine. It was the first time I was introduced to non-classical cooking and taught me to appreciate the importance of seasonal, good quality ingredients.

What you ate/drank? Chicken in a pot with wild rice, and homemade elderflower cordial.

What made it special? My Mum made it all: it was one pot cooking, with humble but good ingredients, that resulted in the most amazing flavours. The combination of white wine, chicken juices, garlic, thyme and other vegetables still sets me off.

When? I had just turned 16 and was just getting into cooking.

With whom? I was with my older brother, who I have enjoyed many of my finest meals with. He is not in the industry, but really appreciates great food and wine.

What you ate/drank? I remember eating a scallop with petits pois a la Française; foie gras with pickled strawberries, fennel and a fennel seed scone; lamb with sag aloo; and amazing bread. The sommelier served us Eiswein with the foie gras and I remember being fascinated by the story of how it was made.

What made it special? It was my first ever ‘fine dining’ experience. The restaurant used to do a cheap lunch menu: £13.50 for 2 courses, but when the chef realised that I was in the industry he really looked after us and sent us out a selection of dishes from the a la carte to try and it completely blew our minds.

Mark Dobbie

som saa

Where? The Spirithouse, Queensland, Australia.

When? 2004.

With whom? My old head chef Kelly Lord.

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What you ate/drank? The two most memorable dishes on the table were a jungle curry and a green papaya salad with sweet pork. Both were just such a blast of flavour I didn’t know what had hit me at the time!

What made it special? I’d eaten Thai food before, but it had never bowled me over or made me interested in the region. That meal did. I started working at The Spirithouse soon after and I have cooked Thai ever since.

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Selin Kiazim

Oklava

Where? The Providores in London.

When? In 2008 – I was 22.

Mark Jarvis

Anglo

Where? At my nan’s house – she was really into her cooking.

When? Pretty young, around five or six years old.

With whom? With my family; we always used to have a Sunday roast together.

What you ate/drank? Roast chicken with vegetables from my granddad’s garden and then homemade apple crumble.

With whom? My sister.

Elizabeth Allen

Pidgin

Where? Singapore, in a hawker centre at the bottom of our flat.

What you ate/drank? We drank delicious wine from New Zealand and ate what is probably still to this day one of the best things I have ever eaten – pork, chilli, coconut and gapi salad on betel leaves with crispy shallots and tamarillo.

When? I was very young – it’s one of my earliest memories.

What made it special? It was the first mouthful I had of the meal and my first experience of fusion cuisine, a true explosion of flavour. Eating that made me incredibly eager to work there – which I did a few months later.

What you ate/drank? Hainanese chicken rice. A staple dish in Singapore; it’s basically poached chicken and rice with cucumber but flavoured with soy and pandan. We drank freshly squeezed lime juice (which helps cope with the spice) and soda water.

What made it special? I remember that I was amazed at how a selection of raw, simple ingredients from the family garden could be turned into such a special meal.

With whom? My family. My mother is Singaporean and my father is English, but we made yearly trips to Singapore.

What made it special? It’s so simple but has so much depth and it always transports me back to that spot in the city surrounded by family and that lovely warm air. The smells, noise and excitement around food was so enticing.

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in conversation with...

ANDREW WONG

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Over green tea in Victoria, Adam Hyman talks to Andrew Wong about his eponymous restaurant.

O

ut of all the chefs and restaurateurs I regularly meet and interview, Andrew Wong is probably the one I know the least about. His restaurant A. Wong in Victoria – an area that is finally being improved thanks to the Land Securities development and the likes of Tom Ford setting up offices there – has become the champion of modern Chinese food over the past couple of years.

I’d arranged to meet Wong at 2pm on a muggy August afternoon at his restaurant on Wilton Road. The site that is currently home to A. Wong was originally his parents’ restaurant Kym’s, where Wong got his first taste of working in a restaurant at the age of nine. “I was working in the kitchen. I got paid in batteries, so I could listen to my Walkman”, notes Wong. “Besides

only went to Oxford because it was deemed the best. I never expected to actually get in”.

Despite not actually completing his degree at Oxford, Wong enjoyed aspects of his time and reminisces on what he learnt from his days there. “In the restaurant when I was growing up, I interacted with older people who were working there as a necessity because they needed to earn money.

That was the thing that stuck with me most. These guys were working long, long hours to send money home to feed their families. And at Oxford, I realised that everyone there is just a regular person – not everyone is some genius. It’s just normal people who work hard and have high aspirations”, muses Wong. “In any walk in life, never be intimated by your environment you’re in.”

“ Most kids were going out to play football or see friends after school, whereas we came to work in the restaurant.”

Despite growing up in his parents’ restaurant, Wong had no desire to open his own - far from it. He ended up studying Chemistry at Oxford. “As a second generation Chinese kid, you were expected to study. I hated it. I

In order to keep his father content, Wong enrolled in anthropology and law at LSE after he left Oxford. “My Dad said go and study law but I didn’t want to read all of the books, so I fooled my parents and enlisted into anthropology and law. If I had my own way, I’d never have gone to university”.

But it was during his time at LSE that Wong’s life changed. His father passed away and it led him into the kitchen.

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Wong goes on to say that, “all of my parents’ staff were geared towards rolling the restaurants out and you could really feel it in the business. That was a rare, important moment for me as I realised my restaurant was never going to be about making money.”

As the No.24 bus whistled past the front of the restaurant, our topic of conversation turned towards that of Chinese food. I put it to Wong that the recent interest in Indian food – Gymkhana, Kricket and Gunpowder – perhaps means it might be Chinese foods turn next. “London is so diverse when it comes to food and culture but it’s partly about educating people what Chinese food is. Most people think of Chinese restaurants as buffets with loads of MSG food. And people make this connection with Chinese food and think this is Chinese cuisine”, says Wong. “But then A. Wong’s food is not Chinese food – it’s our version of Chinese food. The same goes for Kricket – that’s not Indian food, it’s Kricket’s version. Likewise with Gymkhana but if more and more people do that – it helps fill in the dots between the cuisine.”

The night before I meet Wong he had just been to a dinner hosted

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the fact that it was a pain in the arse, I’ve now realised that it put me and my sister in a different place. Most kids were going out to play football or see friends after school, whereas we came to work in the restaurant.”

“Regardless of your circumstances, you always have that eureka moment.

Sadly for me, it was my father dying”, says Wong. However although Wong’s father took a very corporate attitude and angle, he had no desire to follow suit. He remembers how corporate his father was with the business. “He always wanted to build a franchise and make money. When I first got my chef ’s whites on, working in the restaurant and then going to culinary school, I realised I didn’t want to take that angle with my business going forward.”

by LIMA Floral in Covent Garden in collaboration with Albert Adrià.

He’s enthused by the fact that more and more cutting edge chefs are intrigued by traditional Chinese cooking techniques. “The problem is

A number of food writers and critics have said that A. Wong is not only the most interesting but also the best Chinese restaurant in London. The food that leaves Wong’s pass is very traditional in the way that it’s prepared

“ When Natalie (his wife) and I set out to open a restaurant, we said we wanted it to be the sort of restaurant that we wanted to go to.” and there’s a modern twist added to it when it gets plated. “We always set out to be the best”, says Wong. “When Natalie (his wife) and I set out to open a restaurant, we said we wanted it to be the sort of restaurant that we wanted to go to.” This is where the novelty of being able to order one piece of dim

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

that nobody has ever really properly documented these techniques, so it’s very hard to find any information on them. Chefs in Japan are more open to speaking to people from the West compared to the Chinese chefs”, Wong tells me.

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sum came from as Wong and his wife “got fed up of fighting over the third dim sum.”

We touch upon food trends, concepts and the future for A. Wong. “Customer habits change”, says Wong. “Customers are now far more knowledgeable but the advantage of a Chinese restaurant is that we don’t have to move as quickly as other restaurants. All the modern British restaurants had to catch on much quicker as the bar was being raised so high.”

“People are also starting to begin to understand what we are trying to do at A. Wong. We never did any PR up until January 2016. The one thing that we’ve done since we took on our PR is fine tuning the message to people as to what we do in the restaurant so we get less of that crowd who say Thursday is Chinese food night and expect to come in and order a sweet and sour chicken and a pint”, Wong says.

“As the restaurant improves and we continue to refine the food even more, we’re going to lose some of that demographic and customer. The whole sourcing is going to get better,

too. I want the restaurant to be an exploration of China. I really want the restaurant to showcase that. Food is a very important part of our culture but there’s also a lot of precision and formal ritual around Chinese dining.

The Tasting Menu has always been focus of our restaurant. It’s 10-courses and it’s always been on the menu but we haven’t really pushed it. So you basically travel around 10 regions of China and each dish is like a postcard from that place.”

I ask Wong if the restaurant will physically change to accommodate this? “The bar downstairs – Forbidden City – is the place that will pay the bills and eventually the á la carte

the moment, we’re cooking for 140 guests a day and we can’t do that offering with that number of covers”, says Wong.

“I would also love to do something in Hong Kong. I don’t think A. Wong will work in many places but I do think it would in Hong Kong. It’s a constantly changing dining scene and their knowledge of Chinese food is obviously better than punters in London. Their dining scene has also become very Westernised; the younger generations are getting accused by their parents of losing their traditions”, he remarks.

As we start to draw to the end of the interview, I want to ask Wong what

“ I would also love to do something in Hong Kong.” menu will move downstairs and make the ground floor restaurant into a far smaller, more focused restaurant. At

supermarket does the best BBQ meat in London. The roast meat I’ve had there is on par with 85% of the stuff I’ve had in Hong Kong,” says Wong.

“And although I’m trying to keep it a bit of a secret, I’m currently going to dim sum classes at the Community Centre in Chinatown that anyone can go to. It’s £2 a pop and it was started by a chap to stop Chinese women from gambling.”

I leave Victoria and make my way back to the office across St James’s Park. It’s been a long time since I’ve come across someone with such a down to earth manner and someone who is constantly striving to improve what he does without being influenced by money. I know where I’d like to stage if I was a chef.

Adam Hyman @AdamMHyman

he gets up to when he isn’t in the restaurant and where he likes to eat in London. “The restaurant in Wing Yip

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

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The breakfast club Anna Sulan Masing talks about the most important meal of the day and how it evokes memories of home.

I Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

want to talk about breakfast, for partly selfish reasons. I love breakfasts and would happily eat it for dinner but also because I think there is a shift happening in the way we eat out, the way we approach the concept of dining and how this industry is viewed.

in my adopted home of the UK – from produce in supermarkets, to the high end restaurants, and the range of casual dining where I can get tastes of home on an affordable and regular basis.

But to talk about breakfast, and this meal in terms of the hospitality industry, I need to first talk about a couple of emotive topics - the meaning of home and Brexit, and the slightly dirty word ‘trend’.

What got me thinking about breakfast was my recent trip home to Malaysia, where breakfast is a religion. As I sat in the heat of a Malaysian morning, slurping up spicy Sarawak laksa

and drinking iced coffee made with sweetened condensed milk, I felt nostalgic for London. This is an odd concept, but it spoke so clearly about how wonderful the world of food was -38-38-

Food is home, and being able to not only eat ‘home’ in London, but to be able talk about these foods with people (Malaysians and non-Malaysians) who know what I am talking about, is so important. Social media plays a big role in this. I have been able to connect with more Malaysians and develop my own understanding, share the differences between the laksas, and get tips of where I can go to find morsels of ‘home’. As a result ‘home’ is not some faraway place thanks to food.

Realising that the UK was home because of its diversity and acceptance of me and the foods I love, made the impact of what Brexit could mean hit hard. What will happen to the world of food if difference and diversity is seen (and enforced) as a negative? I don’t have the answers, and there are so many layers and questions still to be realised, but my hope came to rest on breakfast.

It sounds like a big ask to stake the future on this humble meal time, but bear with me.

Firstly, the word ‘trend’. This word feels a little dirty because it sounds so throw away. A ‘trend’ is the hot new

thing, the life of the party that people forget when the bloom of youth has faded; and when you’ve worked so hard to build a business, spend years honing your craft you don’t want your efforts to become the story of yesterday. We all want to build, develop, and create something that has a lasting effect on people.

One of the responses in the West was street food - food trucks, food stalls and food markets. Thus a trend was

I spoke to the Professor of Sociology at the University of Malaysia, Cheng Sim, and asked her about breakfast and street food in the Malaysian and Asian psyche. She spoke about the

expertise of these vendors, and how they can perfect one or two dishes, and how these are foods you can’t cook at home. She also emphasized that street food is about having a nourishing, cheap meal to start your day with.

My father, who has a PhD in anthropology, explained that Malaysians are very family orientated and eat most meals together.

Therefore, breakfast out at the cafes is an easy start to the day for everyone that involves no cooking. He also explained these cafes, which house multiple vendors, are basic, simple and everywhere; they have people of all races and socioeconomic status in one room. Cheap, filling and delicious - breakfast is accessible, breakfast is for everybody.

The structure of street food in the West is similar to that in the East small setups in shared space - but consumer-wise it is different as it attracts a younger, urban crowd and can be pricey. But Western street food -39-

adds to this growing consciousness, as thanks to social media and press it has developed a trend that has become a wider conversation that celebrates variety and difference in foods. We in the UK are now wonderfully kneedeep in expanding our taste buds; and in the uncertain world of ‘Brexit means Brexit’ where talk of recession is a breath away, we will be finding many ways to quench this thirst. And so, because of its accessibility - a service time for all the family, nourishing, cheap and easy - breakfast feels like the kin to the Asian street food and a way forward.

Accessibility to great food is the way we are moving and the way we should be moving in this industry.

High end restaurants are offering breakfast menus, meaning people can experience glamour without breaking the bank. As a simple example, I chose to get up early for my birthday so that I could have breakfast at Dishoom, with my sister, nephew and younger cousin – spicy eggs, naan, bacon, bubbles, family, the definition of an excellent celebration. It was delicious food I had never eaten before, affordable, and an easy place for a baby so that everyone could be there.

People want to eat good food, they want the expertise of a trained professional, they want to share their meal times with loved ones. We have to make sure that this trend for different flavours, of other cultures to influence our lives, and for good food to be accessible to all, is not a fleeting one. It must be here to stay, grow and encourage people to explore more. My fingers are crossed that a breakfast spot for laksa will open soon in London - it really is the perfect way to start the day.

Anna Sulan Masing @AnnaSulan

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

But what is a trend? Trend is part of the zeitgeist. It is an idea of what the world wants now, it is a response to how we understand the set of circumstances we are in. After the global recession the hospitality industry responded fairly quickly. Why? Maybe because of its ability to ‘read the crowd’ on a service by service basis, or maybe because it attracts the misfits, mavericks and the creatives who can think outside of the box? Whatever the reason - eight years later - we are now an industry that is booming.

born. These temporary food stalls in shared spaces let cooks, chefs and restaurateurs try, fail, re-organise and succeed, without the overheads of a restaurant and the need for traditional funding structures. The cuisine of these street foods were often nonWestern, because they attracted people from outside of traditional culinary routes or let chefs explore the untested flavours of their family heritage. This opened up a whole range of food diversity.

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

The God shot

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Mikey Williams met with Daisy Rollo of Coffea Arabica to learn about the dark arts of the barista and the UK coffee scene.

The UK coffee scene’s development in recent years has been an extremely welcome one. With thriving specialist coffee shops aplenty in cities like London and Bristol, the days where a caffeine fix necessitated a trip to Starbucks are long gone. Whether you crave the fruity notes that Sumatran beans deliver, or simply desire the creamiest of flat whites, all sorts are now readily available through various mediums. Home aficionados can buy wholesale from roasters such as Allpress, Caravan and Climpson & Sons to complement their La Marzocco machines. Or you could pop to one the aforementioned roasters’ cafes, or one of the numerous independents scattered across the capital. Stop by any and the person pouring your drink of choice may well be coffee-obsessed barista with a true dedication to his or her craft.

It is these individuals that have and continue to drive this evolution, and no one person better embodies this than Daisy Rollo. Having previously worked in Michelin-starred restaurants and the wine industry, she turned her attention to the humble coffee bean 14 years ago.

She launched Coffea Arabica, through which she provides coffee training both in London and at Leaze Farm near Bristol, as well as mobile coffee bars for events. We caught up with her at the La Marzocco studio near Old Street for a chat about all things caffeinated.

That Rollo is not alone in this judicious approach is refreshing: aforementioned specialist coffee shops share it, and it seems as if restaurants are increasingly doing so, too. As brunch trade continues to soar one would expect this to continue, given the importance of a high quality cup of coffee to go with one’s eggs Benedict. Who knows, we may even reach a stage where being offered a

that coffee can range from having fruity, acidic notes to deeper, more caramelised ones, but not that the length of extraction time impacts it. Rollo demonstrated how under-extraction leaves you with a pale, watery and acidic result. Over-extraction tends to create a burnt and bitter flavour profile.

Get it right and you have what those in the industry call ‘the god shot’. Rollo proceeded to nail exactly that and the difference in taste to the previously described attempts was marked. It

“Get it right and you have what those in the industry call ‘the god shot’.” choice between single origins and blends becomes de rigeur with certain dining experiences.

Having said this, we both agreed that room for improvement still exists; in particular when it comes to restaurant wait staff being trained in the arts of the barista. In some respects less of a revenue-spinner than the food offering, or simply discounted as less important, some establishments are yet to invest in the training of staff that the quality of their purchased beans, machinery and of course their food deserves. One or two recent sub-par experiences come to mind and imply that a little trip to one of Rollo’s training courses could well be in order. Given an espresso often rounds off a dinner, making sure the customer’s last impression matches the whole dining experience certainly deserves some attention.

The importance of the human touch was made all the more clear as Rollo served up an espresso masterclass for us; getting high quality beans and a topnotch coffee machine does not equate to the perfect coffee. Numerous other variables to which the regular punter is oblivious then factor. We were aware -41-

poured like honey and was bang on in terms of its balance. It goes to show that merely buying the best ingredients does not necessarily result in the best final product without a skilled hand at the tiller.

Just as you don’t buy premium-quality and priced steaks only to char them to well done, so too should restaurants and some cafes look at the training their staff receive on top of the bean quality they purchase.

As the coffee scene continues to evolve, we would expect to see the likes of Rollo and other trainers in increasing demand; both from the home enthusiast and the industry. It certainly would not be a bad thing.

Mikey Williams @epicuriousinlondon

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Amongst the topics discussed was sourcing. Roasters and the specialist cafes that buy from roasters today apply the same attention to the origins of their beans that you would expect from top restaurants and their ingredients. Despite not being a coffee roaster herself, Rollo is no different. Her background in wine, an industry underpinned by a rigorous approach to provenance, led her to adopt the same approach to coffee beans. A desire to deepen her knowledge led to research trips to the likes of Ethiopia and India. In the former she spent a week working on a plantation, whilst in Ethiopia she divided her time between plantations and auctions. As well as understanding just how significant the industry is for local communities, her tales illustrated to us the extent to which

local climates dictate the flavour profiles of the coffees that we all sip on back in the UK.

Eat. Drink.

Design.

D

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

iversity is a theme that continuously crops up in CODE Quarterly. Never before have we as customers had the opportunity to dine at such an extensive international table. What’s more the diversity of food goes much deeper than just a country. It travels deep into states, villages and even postcodes.

Restaurateurs are exploring and scouring the world to bring us something new, something that we’ve never tasted before. For a designer it’s always interesting to see how this work

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Image credit: Steven Joyce

is realised creatively. How these cultural influences are reimagined in an empty building, street stall or space on the streets of London.

In this issue we caught up with the creative teams behind Jason Atherton’s Sosharu and new neighbourhood pasta bar, Padella. Both demonstrate their influences go deeper than just a country, uncovering styles of cooking that is new to so many of us.

Image credit: Steven Joyce

Image credit: Steven Joyce

Padella

by Lisa Helmanis, Day Studio Padella, a pasta bar serving hand rolled pasta, is the second project from Tim Siadatan & Jordan Frieda, the team behind Trullo. Trying to find any information about the design or interior was hard to come by. But then that’s the impression you get.

Padella is an exercise in understated. It doesn’t shout, it soothes and welcomes you in (if you’re happy to queue, of course). The visual delight is seeing your pasta rolled - if walking by early morning - or constructed on full view as you dine. It’s like the white walls of a gallery allowing the audience to see the main show without any over the top distractions. We were able to track down Lisa Helmanis, designer & founder of Day Studio, to ask her a few questions about the project.

1. From a design point of view can you sum up the project in your own words?

Hard and fun; the best kind. We had a very small space but as with sister restaurant Trullo we really wanted to put the food at the centre, so the kitchen is the first thing you experience as you arrive.

2. Padella doesn’t fit into any obvious design influence - what was the inspiration behind the interior design and layout?

3. The restaurant gives the impression of ‘less is more’ - was this a clear goal from the first conversation?

I tend to think about the food first and go from there; Padella is about doing something extremely well; the freshest Italian pasta using Spadellare (the pasta cooking water) to give the authentic, moreish taste that keeps you returning.

Yes, I don’t like design that feels ‘stuck on’ for the sake it. My only really decorative flourishes are the old Italian 80s Vogue pictures upstairs. I love a good hair flick.

The white tiles and zinc was inspired by the 50s Italian cafes that I used to haunt as an art student when I first arrived in London. There aren’t so many any more sadly. The matchboard I’ve used for seating reminds me of the old cabbie huts (there is still one in Hanover square) that also seemed about taking comfort after a hard days work; but lent some glitz with brass details and gloss black.

I used curved wooden panels to divide space because I had an obscure image in my mind of old, grand Italian horse stables and they do the job without closing the space down.

My references rarely get a literal interpretation but I think they lend the schemes some depth that might subtly come through in how you feel in them.

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4. What do you consider the most important factor when creating a restaurant identity?

That it is a backdrop that makes sense when you eat the food; it should be an enjoyable, welcoming place to be that’s easy to work and dine in but above all, let’s the food shine.

5. Lastly, are there any other restaurant or bar identities that you think work well?

Ducasse at the Dorchester I think manages to feel very special and like an event; hard in London with such a well fed crowd. But I also am happy anywhere that is what it is; I can happily appreciate a Formica bench in that cabbies hut.

Sosharu

by Light & Motion Sosharu takes a very different approach to Padella but one that is equally as effective. The idea of less is more doesn’t really count here. Whether it’s textures, wall art, surfaces or place mats, every ounce of the environment is considered.

Sosharu is Jason Atherton’s latest restaurant and bar, and takes its inspiration from a Japense izakaya. For me the real impact of the restaurant comes with the visual identity. Mirroring Jason’s cooking the design is well refined with an admirable attention to detail. And apart from the slightly annoying opening frame, the website is one of the best restaurant sites I’ve seen for a while. I spoke with Simon Nicholls, Creative Director & CoFounder of Light & Motion, the team responsible for the graphic identity.

1. You’ve been working with Jason Atherton for several years now how did the relationship start?

A mutual friend introduced us, Jason was about to depart from maze, he shared his story, vision and inspiration. Our first project was developing an underground brand for Jason, I introduced him to a Russian photographer Oleg Mikheev, who we worked more in fashion and music with. He turned up with a vintage Yashica twin lens reflex camera, at first Jason wasn’t sure, but the results were perfect and from then on it’s just worked.

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Over the last six years, we have been translating ‘conceptual thinking’ into ‘visual meaning’, that is where the creative challenge lies. Jason has always been clear about what he wants and has stood by the same principles from the day that we met.

2. Jason is known for being extremely hardworking with a refined attention to detail - does he have the same approach when working with designers and creatives?

Yes, he does. Jason has the same approach and ethics throughout his projects,

having such a clear vision of what he wants, it is important that he works with people who share the same passion, drive and enthusiasm for making each project completely unique. From my experience Jason has great relationships with everyone that he works with, and I think this translates in his restaurants and his food; from creatives, designers and architects to suppliers and chefs alike.

3. Japan has a rich visual culture how did you go about researching the project? Did you visit Japan?

I take my inspiration from everything around me; architecture, films, textures, patterns, arts and travelling. Having visited Japan and Asia on several occasions I had many opportunities to immerse myself in the culture, everything has an influence. To understand a visual culture, it’s seeing people and friends living day to day, observing their reactions with things.

Restaurant dining isn’t just about the food, it’s about the entire sensory experience, and I think Jason would agree.

The concept was to create a playful nighttime street atmosphere in Tokyo.

With Jason we always look to infuse a poetic or narrative layer into our visuals, but clear in terms of visual language, 7 Tales allowed us room for interpretation, introducing a form of humour, but essentially creating something unique and functional with a great aesthetic.

6. Lastly, what role do you think a visual identity should play in the dining experience?

Food is about stories, memories and flavours. A dining experience is more memorable when there is a story behind the concept. The Light and Motion team look to integrate all forms of media to processing Jason’s vision to bring the brand language alive, it can add playfulness, personality or stories, and the vital decision of naming, all external aspects, web, social interactions and photography, go towards giving the customer a unique and memorable experience.

4. Your graphics use a variety of textures - what was your thinking behind this?

With each project we try to immerse ourselves as deeply as possible, learning about the country, culture, style, arts, music, fashion and history. In my opinion it’s the only way to get the best results and create a truly unique brand. From the moment you sit down at Sosharu we wanted people to feel like they were being transported to Japan (with a Jason Atherton twist of course). This can be influenced by the smallest details and visual elements; textures of paper, the metals used for signage, artworks, menu style and typography. We wanted diners to walk away talking about their unique experience at Sosharu and I think we have been successful in that.

5. Can you tell us more about the wall artwork and neon’s that bring to the life the downstairs?

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James Wood @designedbyjaw James Wood is the founder of design studio, JAW. designedbyjaw.co.uk

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

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Belmond Villa San Michele

Borgo Santo Pietro

Villa Cora

Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco

Issue 8 | Autumn 2016 | codehospitality.co.uk

Under the Tuscan sun In association with Bon Vivant Travel

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W

ith rolling fields of Cypress trees and olive trees, the Tuscan countryside is a thing of sheer beauty. With fabulous food, vineyards aplenty and picture-perfect views in every direction, the area is one of Italy’s best and most visited areas - and for good reason. Here is my selection of the area’s top properties.

Villa Cora, Florence Housed in a late-19th century villa, a 20 minute walk from the centre of Florence, Villa Cora is a stunning property. The design is opulent with frescoes, stuccos, large mirrors, parquet floors and chandeliers dominating the theme.

With its location next to the Boboli Gardens, Villa Cora feels like a country retreat, but one that’s a short walk from the city’s major attractions. Most of the hotel’s 46 rooms and suites are spread across two grand villas, but families would love the two bedrooms housed in a separate building on the grounds.

Perhaps surprising for a hotel so close to the city centre, Villa Cora has a large pool and lounge area which the main restaurant opens up on to in the summer. For views of Florence, head up to the hotel’s rooftop terrace which becomes a Champagne bar during the summer months. villacora.it

Belmond Villa San Michele You probably won’t find a more mesmerising view of Florence than from the gardens of Belmond Villa San Michele, an old monastery that perches on a hill above the city in Fiesole.

Villa San Michele is grand and traditional in style and design, but with a sense of understated luxury rather than opulence.

Along with 23 suites, guests have the choice of 9 standalone villas, ranging from 2 to 6 bedrooms, which are spread across the estate.

There is also the rather great opportunity to stay in your own private farmhouse with room service on speed dial.

The Casina

Lunch at the relaxed Tuscan trattoria, Osteria La Canonica, is a delight – enjoy beef tagliata or pappardelle with wild boar ragu in combination with views of the rolling Tuscan hills and the town of Montalcino in the distance.

Wooden beams and original stone walls add character, but the scene stealer here is the floor to ceiling windows with 270 degree views of the glorious Tuscan landscape.

rosewoodhotels.com/castiglion-del-bosco

Borgo Santo Pietro From the road that leads to its doors, Borgo Santo Pietro seems rather unassuming, but once the ornate gates to the property open and you drive down the cypress-tree lined path, you know something special awaits.

Only 15 minutes from the city of Siena but in perfect peace and tranquility, The Casina occupies a 12th century watchtower that has been restored to its current glory.

While the property is designed for couples, there is a day bed downstairs and the library area can be turned into an additional bed.

With an oxygen-cleaned pool (which also has a ‘fastlane’ countercurrent swim machine), an outdoor Jacuzzi, in-door steam room and nothing but olive groves to distract you, The Casina is a beautiful private home to rent in Tuscany. thecasina.com

A 13th-century villa sits at the heart of the intimate hotel, which has 15 individually designed rooms; more like a luxurious private house than hotel. The design is true to the building’s history: rooms are filled with tasteful antiques and paintings, whilst stone fountains add character to the grounds.

At night, the hotel really shines with some of the most beautiful lighting I have come across in a hotel, creating a warm, inviting and deeply romantic atmosphere.

The main restaurant, Meo Modo, uses ingredients from the hotel’s extensive kitchen gardens – make sure to ask for a table outside to revel in the romance of the setting – or for something more casual, visit the Treehouse Bar positioned next to the beautiful pool, where you can have a wood-fire pizza or simple grill dishes with your sundowner cocktail.

Emyr Thomas @BonVivantLiving Emyr Thomas is the founder of Bon Vivant, a luxury travel and concierge service based in London with global coverage. Book through Bon Vivant for access to free upgrades, breakfast and restaurant and spa credits at over 1,300 hotels worldwide. bonvivant.co.uk

borgosantopietro.com

With beautiful antiques and historical paintings featuring throughout, it’s believed the façade is attributed to Michelangelo.

The terraced gardens lead up to the pool area, where you can see Florence in all its glory from your sunlounger.

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The main restaurant, a long vaulted loggia, feels rather formal at night, but offers a magical view with which to enjoy your breakfast. belmond.com/villa-san-michele-florence

Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco Owned by the Ferragamo family, Castiglion del Bosco offers a grown-up, polished version of Tuscany. Occupying a huge wine estate, which also features an 18 hole private golf course, the property’s reach is vast, providing a sense of privacy and seclusion.

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Instagram spotlight In this feature we shine a light on our favourite Instagram accounts. Follow @londoneater for an insight into where he dines.

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24 hours in Edinburgh Edinburgh has much to offer when it comes to restaurants, and a lot of it comes from home-grown talent. The area of Leith has changed beyond recognition and is now home to the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in Scotland. We’ve rounded up some of the best that the city has to offer ahead of The CODE app launching in the Scottish capital this autumn.

9am

Burr & Co

11am

Part of the George hotel, Burr & Co opened in 2015 and sits alongside the Printing Press Bar and Kitchen.

They’ve teamed up with CARAVAN to offer ethically sourced, freshly roasted coffee beans, even offering a special George Street blend. To accompany your caffeine kick, choose from a selection of freshly baked pastries or sample the Scottish shortbread.

1pm

Norn

2pm

A trip to Edinburgh would be incomplete without a visit to Leith where the exceptional new kid on the block, Norn, is cooking up a storm. With reviews from every angle urging you to ‘GO’ we couldn’t agree more. Norn offers a modern take on Scottish cuisine using the very best Scottish produce and producers in a simple and stripped back environment. With a popular four to seven course tasting menu or a competitively priced set lunch at £20 it suits all budgets.

A relatively new addition to the Stockbridge area and already hugely popular, owners Duncan and Amy Findlater named their wine bar after two Melbourne streets they used to live on. The bar combines complete simplicity with

6pm a love of wine, cheese and good company. It is a popular destination for a pre-dinner glass of crisp white and a slice or two of cheese.

Rocco Forte’s hotel on Princes Street has views across Edinburgh and is a great place to stay at the heart of the city. Dining at the Balmoral offers an eclectic mix; Number One is Michelin starred dining by chef Jeff Bland, whilst Hadrian’s Brasserie provides a relaxed alternative offering classic Scottish dishes. The Balmoral smoked salmon carved tableside is a must.

Wedgwood Conveniently located on the Royal Mile, Wedgwood is the perfect place to refuel after browsing the local tartans. Co-owned by Paul and Lisa Wedgwood, it’s a key player in the Edinburgh restaurant scene and since its opening in 2007 the restaurant has won countless awards, featuring

in the Sunday Times Top 100. The seasonal menu focuses on quality raw ingredients.

(Coming soon to The CODE app)

4pm Smith & Gertrude

Hadrian’s Brasserie, The Balmoral Hotel

8pm

(Coming soon to The CODE app)

Scran & Scallie

10pm

Another winner emerging from Stockbridge, the Scran & Scallie is the latest venture from the team behind the popular Michelin star restaurant The Kitchin. Two of Scotland’s top chefs, Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack, have come together to create what has been described as ‘Edinburgh’s leading gastropub’. The food boasts a ‘from nature to plate ethos’ with a combination of traditional Scottish ingredients. However, if it is a wee dram you are after or a late night cocktail the drinks menu will not disappoint.

Chop House Bar & Butchery Nestled down a quiet street in Leith is the Chop House Bar & Butchery. Compass Group directors Mark Fraser and Michael Spink are adding to their already healthy group of restaurants including Sygn, Montieths and The WestRoom. Based on the classic steak house, head chef Brian McConnachie offers up a protein-packed menu featuring whole sides of beef dry-aged with Himalayan salt in on site dry-aging fridges.

The Stockbridge Stockbridge was recently voted one of the coolest places in Britain. Just ten minutes north of the city centre, it is one of Edinburgh’s trendier suburbs bursting with quaint village charm. A stroll down the stunning Circus Lane will work up enough of an appetite for dinner at The Stockbridge

Restaurant. Tucked away at basement level, coowners Jason and Jane have been delighting locals and visitors. The Sunday menu with BYOB is popular among hospitality folk.

(Coming soon to The CODE app)

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Last orders This Quarterly’s post-shift recipe is from one of London’s most decorated chefs, Phil Howard. Howard cooked up a simple spaghetti dish at his soon to open restaurant Elystan Street.

Spaghetti with butter, parmesan and crispy shallots

Ingredients

Method

Spaghetti (any pasta will do)

Finely dice the shallots. Heat a pan before adding butter and then the shallots, frying until brown. Remove the shallots and drain off the excess fat before placing in a warm oven to dry out.

Homemade white chicken stock Chopped spring onions Butter

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Cook the spaghetti to your liking.

Parmesan Shallots

Meanwhile in another heated pan add the chicken stock until bubbling. Add a large lump of butter followed by the cooked spaghetti. Take off the heat and plate up.

Add the crispy shallots, salt, pepper and grated parmesan to your heart’s content.

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Tramshed Tredwell’s Typing Room Union Street Café Bar Union Street Café Viet Grill Vintage Salt Upper Street Wright Brothers Soho Wright Brothers Spitalfields Wringer & Mangle Zelman Meats Zoilo NORTH All Star Lanes Almost Famous GN Almost Famous Leeds Almost Famous Liverpool Almost Famous NQ Bollibar @ Asha’s Asha’s Black Dog Ballroom NQ Black Dog Ballroom NWS Bundobust Burnt Truffle Busaba Liverpool Busaba Manchester Cane & Grain Chapter House Crazy Pedro’s Part-Time Pizza Parlour Dog Bowl Electrik Evelyn’s Gaucho Leeds Gaucho Manchester Hawksmoor Manchester Home Sweet Home GN Ibérica Spinningfields Keko Moku Manchester 235 MEATliquor Leeds Mughli Knutsford Mughli Rusholme Railway Kitchen & Bar Sticky Walnut Tampopo Albert Square Tampopo Corn Exchange Tampopo Trafford Centre

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