CODE Quarterly | Issue 18 | Spring 2019 by CODE Hospitality

Issue 18 Spring 2019

Quarterly

The eyes & ears of the hospitality industry 100 Most Influential Women in Hospitality Bookshelf confidential • Abstinence • Chef obsessions

Industry £4 / Non-industry £7

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Contents 5.

Staff briefing

In season: shopping pages

CODE breaking: restaurant news

10.

The 100 most influential women in hospitality

21.

Women whose influence will grow in 2019

22.

In conversation with... Nieves Barragán-Mohacho

25.

The books case: four noteworthy recipe collectors

30.

What’s fuelling CODE this season

34.

Inside Obsession: the ultra-chef-collaboration

36.

Mama Studios: a study in photography and styling

40.

The rise and rise of competitive dining

42.

Zeren Wilson shares his abstinence experience

44.

Tools of the trade: Nyetimber’s head winemaker

47.

The drinks report: sake

48.

On the shelf: the latest food books reviewed

51.

What went on at the 30 under 30 dinner

52.

Simon Rogan’s diary from Hong Kong

54.

24 hours in... Cape Town

56.

What’s hot on social media

57.

A classic revisited: Clarke’s

58.

Staff meal: what the team eats at Darjeeling Express

Publisher Adam Hyman Editor Lisa Markwell Creative Director Alexander Taralezhkov

Contributors Max Coltart Minna Gabbertas Loyd Grossman Chloë Hamilton Katie Hammond Asma Khan Will Lake Tom Pilgrim Harriet Raper Simon Rogan Joe Sarah Nu Valado Slav Vitanov Zeren Wilson

Head office CODE Hospitality WeWork 1 Primrose Street London EC2A 2EX Tel: +44 20 7104 2007 contact@codehospitality.co.uk @CODEhospitality @codehospitality CODE Quarterly (online) ISSN 2398-9726

Front cover illustrated by Marina Muun (@marinamuun, marinamuun.com) Printed on recycled paper by DataComuniqué

New destinations on the app include:

DIRECTORY

ME London Five-star hotel in the heart of London’s West End Lady Libertine New all-day, all-night venue on Edinburgh’s St Andrew Square Flight Club Manchester High-tech social darts on King Street The Drop Harts Group’s wine bar at Coal Drops Yard

For full list of participating restaurants and bars, see page XX -3-

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

THE CODE APP

Dinner by Heston Heston’s historic British gastronomy at the Mandarin Oriental

Refill, not landfill.

Introducing the Allpress Reusable Cup Our classic 8oz cup, just better. Start your reusable journey at our Redchurch St. Cafe. On March 15, get a free reusable cup when you buy a coffee.

Staff briefing What’s hot I’m penning this from our new CODE HQ , a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street and Shoreditch. As we settle into our new co-working surroundings, it’s a reminder that sometimes we need change in our daily lives. Despite us all being creatures of habit, we need to constantly keep evolving, keep challenging ourselves and never rest on our laurels. I often think this is so true in the world of hospitality when competition has never been tougher and customers have never been more knowledgeable or - dare I say - demanding. This has been evident in the high-street chains over the past year or so; it’s why we find the new world of competitive socialising so interesting (p. 40). Over the past couple of years, we’ve witnessed monumental change in our industry especially when it comes to the championing of women in hospitality. Our second annual 100 Most Influential Women in Hospitality list shows how across all aspects of the industry, from the kitchen to the boardroom to the supply chain, women are not only vital to the running of hospitality businesses but quite simply, a number of these operations would not even exist. We hope this list is an inspiration to everyone in hospitality. As always, thank you for your continued support, and please do drop me a note at: adam@codehospitality.co.uk Adam Hyman Founder, CODE @AdamMHyman

The wild west OK our interest is piqued – Chelsea’s got Hotel Costes, Adam Handling and Myrtle

Want it wrapped? This season, chip-shop curry sauce has gone posh at Perilla and Two Lights

The big freeze We like the melt-slow style of drinks with one big ice cube

Clear winners PDRs are less private with an influx of glass boxes: see Art Yard and Brasserie of Light (literally)

What’s not Copycats Whether it’s an homage or a spoof, enough of borrowing other restaurants’ identities. Think of your own ideas

Keep it clean Stop using #foodporn, we’re talking about dining rooms not bedrooms

Guesswork What is the reason for putting your menu online with no prices? We can’t think of a good one

Turn off We’ve reached peak neon – those illuminated witty slogans are getting a bit… dim

Lisa Markwell Editor, CODE @HoldsKnifeLikePen -5-

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Do we need an issue of CODE Quarterly focused on women in the hospitality industry? After all, any sensible organisation or operator should be striving for equality, rather than separation or, god forbid, tokenism. Well, as we recently said in our Monday Bulletin, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see”, so this edition is produced with that in mind. Some are famous already, of course – from the Michelin-starred chef Nieves Barragán-Mohacho to the award-winning winemaker Cherie Spriggs. But there are also many inspirational women to celebrate who are lower profile – and we’ve highlighted a wide range in our annual list of the 100 most influential women in hospitality. There are some terrific books in our round-up, and the women who collect them in our regular ‘Me and my…’ feature. We revisit industry legend Sally Clarke’s restaurant, and find out what Asma Khan feeds her staff. There are, of course, some fascinating features by and about men too – it’s that equality ethos. If you’re picking up this magazine for the first time and are interested in the people, places, trends and produce that makes our world so fascinating, you can subscribe and never missue an issue. All the details are at codehospitality.co.uk/ CQsubscribe As always, please let me know what subjects you’d like to read in future issues of CODE Quarterly, and any other feedback, at lisa@codehospitality.co.uk.

In season Whether it’s a tried-and-tested utility item or a fanciful, not-entirely-necessary taste adventure, there’s lots to tempt the shopper this spring

Can do

There’s been an explosion in all-natural sparkling drinks (messy!) but not all are created equal. Having tried quite a few recently, we’re big fans of Something & Nothing – for a start the cans are stylish (shallow, us?!) but the low-calorie, no additive cucumber, yuzu and hibiscus and rose drinks are delicious. You can buy them in Selfridges, Crosstown, Ace Hotel and more, or contact Oliver Dixon, the co-founder who’s fizzing with enthusiasm. somethingandnothing.co

Red alert

It was always going to happen: the wonderful world of spherification has peaked with the arrival of Heinz ketchup caviar. The red sauce in bobble form was created as a limited edition recently and caused much shrieking from tabloid newspapers, but we fully expect to see it on general sale sometime soon. Or maybe a competitor will jump in – HPeas anyone?

It’s a snip

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

These Japanese kitchen scissor were almost chosen at random from the myriad kit on the Kitchen Provisions website – the little company beloved by chefs has great taste with everything it sells. We’re particularly pleased, though, to hear that they’ve opened a new shop at Coal Drops Yard in London’s King’s Cross, which is handy for many restaurateurs and food-loving passers by. The knife-sharpening service is brilliant, and you can get 90 minutes of one-to-one tuition too. £30, kitchenprovisions.co.uk

SPRING

2019 -6-

Sweet solution

Sauce, pickle and jelly purveyor Andre Dang of Man Food, together with his partner Jon, have created a new range that is suitable for those on special diets (without banging on about it like some brands…) Janda has savoury items in its range but we love the sound of dairy-free salt caramel, dairy- and egg-free lemon curd and strawberry jam with no sugar. £3.95 for a 190g jar, welovemanfood.com

Claw back

The marvellously named Timorous Beasties have been creating fabrics, wallpapers and more for decades, but their latest tea towels are of particular interest for food lovers. There are two snappy lobster designs, and this very handsome brown crab in amongst the sea foliage. Worth shelling out for. £14, timorousbeasties.com

On a roll

Whether or not you’re keen on the idea of pappardelle through the post, the Pasta Evangelists people also sell rather lovely, traditional kit for making your own. Rollers, cutters, a pestle and mortar for pesto and more all look the part – even if you only end up rolling gnocchi down a little board. Leonardo da Vinci kit, £52, pastaevangelists.com

Inner beauty

Remember the great Bragg apple cider vinegar drought? It caused ructions round our way. It may be back but we’ve switched to Willy’s – not only is the packaging more pleasing, it comes from Hertfordshire orchards and is raw, unpasteurised and with all the power of its mother. We know you gut soul. From £6.95, willysacv.com

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Play catch

This solid beech cutting bowl is a thing of beauty and a joy if you’re prey to the escapeesliced-veg syndrome. It’s based on a traditional Portuguese design and comes from Crane Cookware, a label that needs little introduction – gazing at their cast iron casseroles is a dangerous way to pass time. £55, cranecookware.com -7-

CODE breaking

London

Davies and Brook

Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, leaders of the Make It Nice group, are to open their first London restaurant at Claridge’s this summer. The duo run the three-Michelinstarred Eleven Madison Park and restaurants at the NoMad hotels in New York, LA and Las Vegas, so they’re the perfect fit to replace Fera, which occupied the hotel until the end of 2018 – however the menus will be simpler than their New York restaurants. Davies and Brook is named after the hotel’s cross-streets.

H.O.M.E

The eyes and ears of the industry

Jason Atherton is set to open his eighth London restaurant and 16th worldwide this year. H.O.M.E will be next to his flagship restaurant Pollen Street Social in Mayfair in a space that Atherton currently uses for art and fashion pop-ups. Intended to house only 16 covers, Atherton’s aim is that H.O.M.E will be a ‘purely creative outlet’, serving a menu inspired by his travels around the globe.

Marchesi 1824

Pastry lovers rejoice! The Prada Group-owned Pasticceria Marchesi is finally coming to London, its first outside Italy. The pastry shop, titled Marchesi 1824 for the UK, will land on Mayfair’s Mount Street in April, taking the long-closed Allen’s of Mayfair site. Alongside its famed panettone, the pasticceria will serve traditional Italian cakes and pastries, chocolates, gelato and will feature an espresso bar, too.

Lucky Cat

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Gordon Ramsay has announced he will replace Maze in Mayfair this summer with a new restaurant entitled Lucky Cat – itself the symbol of good fortune in Asia. The new restaurant will be “an authentic Asian eating house and vibrant late-night lounge, inspired by the drinking dens of 1930s Tokyo”, led by chef Ben Orpwood.

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Rest of the UK

In addition to our weekly digital Bulletin, here we round up this quarter’s biggest news in the global restaurant and hotel scene. By Minna Gabbertas

Having undergone a complete renovation and refurbishment, the Talbot Inn opened its doors again in February. The ultra-trad hotel is now owned by experts Sam and Georgie Pearman (who formerly ran the Lucky Onion group), and has had its 26 bedrooms and suites revamped, as well as new menus by head chef Robert Britain. Britain’s food will make the most of Malton and Yorkshire’s produce.

Kala, Manchester

Gary Usher, the highly entrepreneurial restaurateur, has hit Manchester, with his sixth restaurant. Kala, on King Street, is the most recent addition to Elite Bistro’s fastexpanding portfolio, which started with Sticky Walnut and now includes the acclaimed Wreckfish in Liverpool and wildly popular Hispi in Didsbury. Kala will serve food of a similar vein: good quality, well priced bistro-style dishes.

Mahé Cookery School, Padstow Padstow’s culinary community gets a new member with the arrival of Mahé. Celebrated chef Paul Ainsworth and his wife Emma, along with John Walton, will open their new cookery school in May, next to Paul Ainsworth at No.6. Mahé, named after an island in the Seychelles, will become an intimate chef ’s table during the evenings. The couple have also announced they’ve taken over The Mariners pub in nearby Rock.

The Oyster Club, Birmingham

The highly-anticipated luxury hotel will open in March in Hong Kong’s iconic Victoria Harbour. The 65-storey tower will house 332 guest rooms and 8 dining venues that will showcase modern interpretations of Hong Kong’s culinary history. The Rosewood Hotel Group has also announced that they’ll be opening in several new locations, such as Shanghai, Shenzhen and Venice in the near future.

Aman Kyoto

Joining Aman’s two other Japan properties, in Tokyo and the Ise Shima National Park, Aman Kyoto is due to open in November, in the Takagamine region. The luxury resort will occupy 80 acres of land near the Daimonji mountain, just outside Kyoto, and will feature individual, minimalist-designed pavilions. The hotel’s Dining Pavilion will focus on making the most of the region’s local offerings.

Soho House, Hong Kong

Hong Kong is set to be the second Asian destination for Soho House after the club opened in Mumbai last year. Soho House Hong Kong plans to open its doors in Sai Ying Pun this month, and will feature all the Soho House essentials: a rooftop pool, gym, Cowshed spa and casual dress code. If the Cecconi’s inside Soho House Mumbai is anything to go by, we can expect that the Hong Kong outpost will have a strong food offering, too.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Dubai

The award-winning experimental chef will open his first UAE restaurant this year at The Royal Atlantis Hotel. This will be the third location for Dinner, which has booming branches in London and Melbourne. The Dubai site will continue the theme of serving contemporary dishes inspired by recipes dating as far back as the 1300s.

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Chef Adam Stokes, who has headed up Michelinstarred Adam’s in the centre of Birmingham along with his wife since 2013, has recently launched The Oyster Club on Temple Street. The restaurant, which takes its name from an 18th century Edinburgh-based dining club for scientists and philosophers, will serve British seafood and will feature an oyster bar where guests can watch chefs shucking and serving.

Rosewood, Hong Kong

Rest of the world

Talbot Inn, Malton

1OO most influential women in hospitality

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

In association with

Building on the success of last year’s list, CODE is proud once again to publish its list of women who genuinely affect change in the hospitality industry. Influence takes many forms – from a small but dynamic operation to a board-level executive who is changing recruitment and retention for women. It’s not just the very visible women who we celebrate here, although it’s always thrilling to see famous female faces on TV and receiving awards. The farmers, the accountants, the waiting staff and the PRs deserve acclaim too. The panel making the final decision on this year’s list was made up of people who understand the industry both from working in it and experiencing it as diners, drinkers and guests. Joining CODE’s Adam Hyman

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and Lisa Markwell were Paula Fitzherbert, group director of communications at Maybourne Hotels, the social-media maestro Clerkenwell Boy and authoritative restaurant-watcher Felicity Spector. In addition, we are delighted that the restaurant-bookings platform Quandoo are sponsors of this year’s list. An evolved and equal industry means a better business for everyone as Pierpaolo Zollo, VP Business Development knows. “At Quandoo, our passion is the restaurant industry and the people who make it work, so we are delighted to be supporting such a diverse list of pioneers from within it. There’s never been a more important time to shine a light on the women paving the way and making waves in the world of hospitality.”

Chefs

Chantelle Nicholson

Chef patron, Tredwells and group operations director, Marcus Wareing Restaurants

Emily Scott

Director and chef, St Tudy Inn

Helen Goh

Head pastry chef, Ottolenghi

Hélène Darroze

Chef proprietor, Helene Darroze at The Connaught

Jane Alty

Head chef and co-owner, The Begging Bowl

Lisa Goodwin-Allen Executive chef, Northcote

Mandy Yin

Chef and owner, Sambal Shiok Laksa Bar

Monica Galetti

Chef and TV presenter, co-owner of Mere

Nicole Pisani

Executive chef and co-founder, Chefs in Schools

Asma Khan

Chef patron, Darjeeling Express (see p58)

Fans of the wildly popular Netflix show Chef ’s Table will be well aware that Khan made headlines at the end of last year when they announced that she is the first ever British chef to be featured on the show. Khan talks about the experience in positive terms, saying that she was given the chance to talk about her story with complete freedom, and address more than just food, she discusses religion, race and immigration, too. Darjeeling Express continues to be one of London’s most-loved destinations for home-style Indian cooking, served up by an all-female, entirely self-taught kitchen of chefs.

Nieves Barragán-Mohacho Chef and co-founder, Sabor (see p22)

Pam Brunton

Head chef and co-owner, Inver

Ravinder Bhogal Chef patron, Jikoni

Kady Yon new entry

Executive chef and operations manager, Soho House & Co

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Soho House operates at breakneck speed under the leadership of Nick Jones and his righthand man Martin Kuczmarski. With loyal but demanding members’, the pioneering private members’ club has to constantly evolve its food offering and maintain standards across the Houses. This is Kady Yon’s role, as executive chef and operations manager. Hong Kong-born, Yon grew up in Chicago where she worked at the legendary Charlie Trotter’s, as well as JeanGeorges Vongerichten’s restaurant. In 2014, Yon helped to launch Soho House Chicago before coming to the UK, where she has held her current role at Soho House since 2017.

Romy Gill MBE

Chef patron, Romy’s Kitchen

Ruth Rogers MBE

Chef owner, The River Café

Sally Clarke MBE Chef owner, Clarke’s

Angela Hartnett

Chef proprietor, Murano and Cafe Murano

Sarit Packer

Co-owner and chef, Honey & Co

Selin Kiazim

Chef patron, Oklava

Shuko Oda Head chef, Koya

Mary-Ellen McTague

Chef restaurateur, The Creameries

Clare Smyth MBE

Chef owner, CORE by Clare Smyth

Clare Smyth needs little introduction, having become the first female British chef to hold and retain three Michelin stars. Smyth had a particularly successful year in 2018, with Core being named New Restaurant of the Year by the Craft Guild of Chefs and the 4th Best Restaurant in the UK at the National Restaurant Awards, as well as catering the reception for Meghan and Harry’s Royal Wedding. Fiercely devoted to her job, having admitted to working 80-hour weeks, Smyth continues to trailblaze as one of the world’s most influential chefs.

Natasha Norton-Smith new entry Pastry chef and co-owner, The Fordwich Arms Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Anyone who has visited the stratospherically successful Fordwich Arms in Kent will know about Natasha Norton-Smith – her incredibly pastry work is central to its rave reviews and the awarding of a Michelin star within a few months of opening. She, together with husband Daniel Smith and business partner Guy Palmer-Brown (both exClove Club), left London to follow their dream of refurbishing the pub – in her case bringing the expertise of years working with Rocket and One Leicester Street. It is a huge tribute to NortonSmith that her knowledge of the Kent scene and warm hospitality means The Fordwich Arms is as popular with the local residents as it is with daytripping food cognoscenti. -12-

Creative director and co-founder, Caravan Restaurants

Irha Atherton

Co-director, The Social Company

Sandia Chang

Co-owner and sommelier, Bubbledogs and Kitchen Table

Sarah Gill

Restaurateur and co-owner, The Dairy and Sorella

Thomasina Miers

Patricia new entry Michelson

Founder, La Fromagerie

Michelson shows that if you stick to one thing and one strong brand image, and do it well, it can lead to huge success. La Fromagerie opened in Highbury Park in 1992; ten years later a second shop opened in Marylebone, and then in 2017 La Fromagerie opened in Lambs Conduit Street. Alongside running her three award-winning shops (that aren’t really just shops at all, but cafes, grocers and supper club venues too) and a successful wholesale business, Michelson has also written two books: The Cheese Room and Cheese. Michelson’s faith in her philosophy and love for food make her a brilliant role-model.

Chef, author and co-founder, Wahaca

Rebecca Oliver

new entry

Co-founder, The Dusty Knuckle

Margot Henderson & Melanie Arnold

Chefs and co-owners, Rochelle Canteen

Erchen Chang & Wai Ting

new entry

Co-founders, BAO

Gizzi & Rosemary Co-founders of F!LTH

Helen Harper-Hinton Bowey Laura

Creative director and co-founder, Chief development officer, rhubarb Caravan Restaurants

Prue Freeman Irha Atherton Founder, Daisy Green

Co-director, The Social Company

Monika Linton Sandia Chang Founder, Brindisa

Co-owner and sommelier, Bubbledogs and Kitchen Table

Nisha Katona Founder, Mowgli Sarah Gill Restaurateur and co-owner, new entry Zan Kaufman The Dairy and Sorella Founder, Bleecker Burger

ThomasinanewMiers entry Ceri Gottand co-founder, Chef, author

HR Director, Restaurants Wahaca (seeHawksmoor p26)

Rebecca Cornelia Oliver Staeublinew entry

Co-founder, The Dusty Knuckle Partner and group general manager, Ottolenghi

Margot Henderson Skye Gyngell & Melanie Arnold Creative director and co-founder,

Chefs and co-owners, Rochelle Canteen Caravan Restaurants

Erchen Chang new entry Sam Clark & Wai Ting Chef proprietor, Moro and Morito Co-founders, BAO

new entry Helen SaiphinBowey Moore

Chief development officer, Chef and co-founder, Rosa’srhubarb Thai, Lao Café and Saiphin’s Kitchen

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Restaurateurs and operators

Laura Harper-Hinton

Sunaina Sethi

Operations director and wine buyer, JKS Restaurants

The powerhouse trio of Sunaina Sethi and her brothers continue to dominate the London restaurant scene. With her focus both on the wellbeing of the extensive staff and the wine world in which she is a high-flying expert, Sethi is an important role model for those inside and beyond the JKS empire. She marked ten years of the JKS business last year – a huge success in itself - plus the launch of Brigadiers, Sabor and Berenjak. Oh, and she and husband Karan Gokani welcomed a son too. Sethi continues to introduce unusual and high creative wines to the stable of restaurants – which this year will be joined by a new BAO, at London Bridge.

Gizzi Erskine & Rosemary Ferguson

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Co-founders, F!LTH

The two women behind the Filth brand were already very influential in their fields – Erskine has a highly successful career as a food writer, author, chef and TV personality, while Ferguson is in huge demand as a nutritionist, which is already her second career after years as a fashion personality. Filth, the vegan fastfood brand they invented and ran as a pop-up at the Tate gallery last year, has exploded in terms of recognition and success. It is currently operating out of the Dirty Burger site in Shoreditch, garnering queues and huge numbers of social media posts. But far more important than that is the genuine researchand-development skill the duo have brought to the burgers – showing the way to a healthier but still fun way to eat. -14-

Drinks

Claire Warner new entry Head of new brands, Seedlip

Warner joined Seedlip last year as head of new brands and has already got a major new launch underway. Æcorn Aperitifs, three non-alcoholic aperitifs are based on 17th century English herbal remedies and – given the huge success and brand dominance of Seedlip – are predicted to be big news. Warner has worked in the drinks industry for more than 20 years, starting at the sharp end as a bartender and working her way up, so she brings huge experience to the company. She was, for instance, a massive influence on the growth of LVMH’s Belvedere brand. She also works to promote good health and wellbeing in an alcohol-driven industry and is multiple awardwinner in a sector that’s previously been dominated by men.

Cherie Spriggs

new entry

Head winemaker, Nyetimber

Denise Harris

Co-founder, Harris Vintners

Henrietta Lovell

Founder and CEO, Rare Tea Company

Jancis Robinson OBE

Wine critic, journalist and wine writer

Ruth Spivey & Ruth Osborne Founders, Wine Car Boot

Fiona Beckett

new entry

Wine writer

Executive sommelier, The Social Company

Patry has been working with Jason Atherton since 2011 when she joined the chef restaurateur as group head sommelier. In an industry dominated by red-trousered male wine buffs, we salute Patry for her role as executive sommelier at The Social Company. For more than five years, she has been responsible for managing all the groups’ head sommeliers, as well as helping with Atherton’s growing line up of restaurants around the globe where she helps hire sommeliers, set up the wine lists and provide training. Passionate about small growers and natural wines, Patry launched Social Wine & Tapas on James Street in Marylebone, London. -15-

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Laure Patry

Communications

Kitty Slydell-Cooper new entry

Head of Communications, St. JOHN Group

With quite an eclectic skillset under her belt, including an MA in shoemaking and a background in writing and design, Slydell-Cooper brings this creativity and ingenuity to her role within the St. JOHN Group. She has more than seven years’ experience working at St. JOHN, where she is responsible for all creative content, from Instagram to longform copy… and even T-shirt design.

Gemma Bell

Founder, Gemma Bell & Company (see p.29)

Maureen Mills

Founder, Network London PR

Jules Perowne

new entry

CEO, Perowne International

Tiffany Robinson

Marketing Director, D&D London

Anouschka Menzies

new entry

Founding Director, Bacchus PR

Sophie Orbaum

Communications Director, Harts Group

Jules Pearson

Partnership & Insights Director, Ennismore

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Zia Zareem-Slade

new entry

Customer experience director, Fortnum & Mason

Safeguarding Fortnum & Mason’s 300-year history and heritage is no mean feat, but Zareem-Slade has tackled the challenge head on: transforming the department store’s old Fountain restaurant into the hugely successful 45 Jermyn St., as well as opening a restaurant within the Royal Exchange, in the heart of the City. ZareemSlade has an impressive background in the industry with brands such as Selfridges, John Lewis and Virgin Atlantic in her portfolio, and is highly respected in London’s e-commerce scene, having secured a win for Fortnum & Mason’s website at the BIMA Awards after only one year of it being live. -16-

Media

Sheila Dillon

Presenter, Radio 4’s The Food Programme

Radio 4’s The Food Programme, aired every Sunday, is essential listening for anyone interested in our food and where it comes from. Whether it’s the origins of pasta or debunking the myths around ‘clean eating’, or the shock of BSE or the rise of GM foods. Sheila Dillon has been the compelling and authoritative voice of the show. She’s been a journalist for almost 30 years and has won multiple awards for her work – which continues to set the agenda. In June this year, she will host the annual (and more important than ever) Food & Farming Awards.

Amanda Ross

Co-founder and CEO, Cactus TV

Fay Maschler

The London Evening Standard restaurant critic

Marina O’Loughlin

The Sunday Times restaurant critic

Catherine Hanly

Editor and co-founder, Hot Dinners

Grace Dent

Restaurant critic, The Guardian

Kate McKenzie

new entry

Director, KMC Squared/Eat Me Drink Me

Founder, Deborah McKenna Ltd

Garson has been a powerhouse agent for many of our leading chefs and food figures over the last 30 years. She first worked with Gary Rhodes, then signed an unknown called Jamie Oliver. More recently she’s represented Gordon Ramsay and Giorgio Locatelli and currently reps Tom Kerridge (having his best year ever), Ollie Dabbous, Andrew Clarke, José Pizarro and Simon Rogan, who has recently opened two new restaurants in Hong Kong (see p52). Garson’s tenacious negotiating on behalf on her clients and enormous enthusiasm for the food and hospitality community make her hugely influential. -17-

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Borra Garson new entry

Purveyors

Jane Scotter Founder, Fern Verrow

new entry

Anyone who has eaten at Spring will know that one of its biggest assets is the dazzling quality of the produce. Since 2015, the Fern Verrow farm has exclusively supplied Skye Gyngell’s restaurant and Jane Scotter is the inspirational woman who runs the farm. She has worked the land on the 16-acre site in Herefordshire since 1996 and was a pioneer in the promotion of truly seasonal fruit and vegetables and the importance of flavour over aesthetics. In addition, beautiful English blooms from Fern Verrow adorn Spring: at a dinner to celebrate the new season’s produce at the restaurant last year, the young chefs and operators were queuing up to hear her softly spoken but deeply authoritative take on farming and share their admiration for her devotion to nature. (And probably wondering how they could persuade her to supply them…

Calixta Killander

new entry

Farmer and founder, Flourish Produce

Abi Glencross new entry

Director, Duchess Grains; Founder and chef, The Sustainable Food Story

Maxine Thompson

new entry

Founder, PolkaPants

Joanna Brennan

Co-founder, Pump Street Bakery

Charlotte Harbottle

Butcher and owner, Charlotte’s Butchery

Terri Mercieca

new entry

Founder and director, Happy Endings

Fiona Leahy

new entry

Founder, Fiona Leahy Design

Afroditi Krassa

Founder, AfroditiKrassa

Lauren Gurvich King

new entry

Head of Retail, The Wolseley Shop

As one of the most iconic restaurants in the UK, over the years The Wolseley had received numerous requests from diners to purchase their tableware, stemwear and tea. Cue Gurvich King, who saw the potential of this and launched The Wolseley Shop at the end of 2017. Thanks to successful careers in interior design and luxury marketing in both the US and UK, Gurvich King was perfectly suited to lead the retail arm of the Corbin & King business, growing the collection to include bespoke hampers and silverware. The Wolseley Shop opened its first bricks and mortar site at Bicester Village last year and also offers its products at Selfridges, Harrods, Fenwick and Mr Porter. -18-

Leaders

Zoë Paskin

Managing director, The Palomar

Despite not having opened any new venues since last year’s list, Paskin still remains at the forefront of the London dining scene with more sites in the pipeline rumoured. Along with her brother Layo, there’s no doubting that the Palomar and the Barbary have gone on to influence a number of recent openings across the capital specialising in Middle Eastern and Jewish influences. The Blue Posts is a favourite of CODE’s with the ground floor pub, the cosy Mulwray on the first floor and one of the best recent openings, Evelyn’s Table, tucked away in the basement. The popular café Jacob the Angel rounds out the group… for now.

Alice Chadwyck-Healey Executive director, The Arts Club

Alison Brittain CEO, Whitbread

Jane Holbrook

new entry

CEO, Wagamama

Kate Nicholls

Zuleika Fennell

new entry

Managing director, Corbin & King

Chief executive, UK Hospitality

Lilly Newell

Darina Allen

Owner, Ballymaloe Cookery School

Camilla Schneideman

new entry

Supporters

Managing Director, Leiths School of Food & Wine (see p28)

Alex Head new entry

Owner and founder of Social Pantry Ltd

Not only is Head the sole owner of her ever-growing catering company and café that she founded in 2011, but she is also a Key4Life ambassador: a charity that works toward rehabilitating those recently released from prison and reducing reoffending. Through Key4Life and working closely with Brixton Prison, she personally mentors and employs young men and women who are in need of a second chance. Last year Head opened Soane’s Kitchen in Ealing, Social Pantry’s first London restaurant.

Ravneet Gill

new entry

Head pastry chef, Wild by Tart; Founder, Countertalk

Alice Williams

new entry

Founder, Luminary Bakery

Lily Jones, Chloe Scott-Moncrieff and Amy Thorne Co-founders of the YBFs

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Group executive director, Caprice Holdings and The Birley Clubs

Karen Jones CBE

new entry

Executive chairwoman, Prezzo and Chair, Hawksmoor and Mowgil

Front of House

Joanne Searley new entry Operations manager, JKS Restaurants

Searley proves that there are many routes into hospitality – and no barriers to reaching great heights. She’s worked in restaurants since she was 16, gathering experience everywhere from D&D London and the ETM Group. Since 2015 she has worked with JKS Restaurants and been an integral part of their growth. With every new opening, Searley heads up front of house to make sure the team are fully appraised of what’s required and to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and confident. As a result, recent openings like Brigadiers and Berenjak have been hugely successful. Searley is also a judge for the front-ofhouse category of the YBF awards, showing the importance of supporting the next generation of hospitality staff.

Aurelija Sovaite

new entry

Group general manager, Barrafina

Emma Underwood Restaurant manager, Stem

Laura Montana

Co-founder, Montana Fogg

Olivia Richli

new entry

General manager, Heckfield Place

Vanessa Xuereb Member relations director, Soho House & Co Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Is there any keeping up with Soho House and their global expansions? With openings in Hong Kong and Downtown LA planned this year, they’re understood to be also looking at Houses in a number of cities including Tel Aviv, Austin and Milan. And 20 years after starting at the original Soho House on Greek Street, Vanessa Xuereb’s role is to make sure the growing membership are still having a good time, as well as working on all of the new sites. Xuereb is a great example of someone who fell into her role while covering for a friend and has the true hospitality spirit – the party goes where Vanessa goes. -20-

Sp e c ial m en t io n 2 O 1 9 Addyson Pope

Head of marketing, Caprice Holdings

Ana Goncalves Co-founder, TĀTĀ Eatery

Anastasia Emmanuel Chief growth officer, Foodchain

Hannah Norris & Victoria Stewart Co-founders, Hospitality Speaks

Hannah Sharman-Cox & Siobhan Payne

Founder and MD, and festival director, DrinkUp.London and London Cocktail Week

Honey Spencer Co-founder, Bastarda

Katie Bone

Founder, PX+ Festival

Zoe Adjonyoh

Author and founder, Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen

Meriel Armitage

Founder, Club Mexicana and The Spread Eagle

Sarah Barber

Executive pastry chef, The Dorchester

Freddie Janssen Marketing manager, Lyle’s

Miranda York & Anna Sulan Masing Co-curators, Voices at the Table

Georgie Pearman

Co-manager, The Talbot Hotel, Malton

Lucy Noone-Blake

Development manager, R Noone & Son

Justine McGovern & Lynne Coyle MW Co-founders, Wine & Spirit Women

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

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In conversation with... One of the people who best represents true hospitality is Nieves Barragán-Mohacho. She made Barrafina the powerhouse it is today, and has created her own wildly popular restaurant Sabor, working with co-founder José Etura. The Heddon Street site, with its ground-floor counter and first-floor asador space with shared tables, won a Michelin star within a year of opening. Barragan looks after her staff well, is a gracious and energetic host and does much for charities. How does she manage it all? She tells Lisa Markwell that sleep is the luxury she can’t always afford…

First and foremost, sitting here in Sabor, it’s fantastic to see such a great gender mix in the kitchen. Your own visibility, and that of your staff, is great role modelling. I think it changed a lot, especially in the last seven, eight years. As you can see, there are women in the kitchen. Once restaurants started to have more open kitchens, that’s when you start to see more women in the industry – because it’s more relaxed, it’s more fun, and more honest. The customer likes to see how the team is made up, just the same as the front of house. There’s not only men.

your mum feel about that? Was she supportive? She’s supportive, but, obviously, 24 years ago it was a very macho environment. So, she was more worried because I was saying ‘I wanna be a chef ’. I know I like to cook, I know I like to eat. But to be a chef is a different story. So that’s why I decided to come to London for a year, to see if I really liked it, to see if it was for me. And I started by working in a French restaurant ... Do you remember Simply Nico? Wow, they taught me the discipline, a respect, for what you’re doing every morning. Not just about food, you know,

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

“My goal is to make sure that when you come to my restaurant, you have the best experience of your life” I love the idea that, growing up in Bilbao, while you’re eating lunch, your mum would already be starting on dinner. What a love of food she instilled in you. Do you think she would have liked to have been a professional cook, a professional chef ? No. No, no, no. My mum now she’s 80 years old, okay? And she’s like an old-fashioned lady – where she gets up, she puts on the apron and starts to make breakfast for the family. My mum has always been about taking care of our family – I have one brother – and she taught me how important it is to be all together when we’re dining. And also, the most important thing is to eat healthily. And it doesn’t mean that it has to be expensive. It’s really funny because we used to be four at home, and we used to buy five loaves of bread. We needed to have at least one each to soak up all the juices! When you said you wanted to work in a professional kitchen, how did

about your sense of seeing techniques and saying, ‘Ooh, that’s cool.’ So, after a year, my mum called me and said, ‘Well, you’ve already been there one year... When are you coming home?’ I’m like, ‘I haven’t even started.’ It gives me goosebumps just to think about it. And my mum said, ‘Okay. You’re learning. This is what you want to do.’ But it was very, very tough. Kitchens back then, especially classic French ones, were said to be brutal. Did you think about the future and imagine that it would be different if/when you got your own place? I remember once I said to myself, ‘kitchens change.’ At that time there was no teamwork. No one asked you, ‘Are you okay?’ It was very macho – and there were no staff meals… So that’s why, always I said, one day I have my restaurant, for me this is my family. You will see now, at Sabor, we all sit down together. The food is brought to the upstairs counter and we all sit down together. Because it’s the moment when -22-

everyone can talk and I respect my staff thinking ‘you want me to work, you need to feed me’. Tell me about receiving a Michelin star not so long after opening – Sabor opened early in 2018 and won in October. Obviously you’d had one at Barrafina, but this is your own place… I mean, it’s funny because the inspectors came three times in nine months. It’s almost as if they wanted to help us somehow. But once we didn’t know, and they sat down at the worst spot in the restaurant! But when you see them leaving with a smile… It’s like, well, we must be doing something right. My goal is not to have one or two or three stars. My goal is to make sure, when you come into the restaurant, you have the best experience of your life. Of course I want the Michelin star for me and for the kitchen – it’s a great thing when we work hard. But for me, it was like, we need to do this right. It feels like a time now in which it’s not just about fine dining – consistency is rewarded with awards, whether it’s a pure white millefeuille or a perfectly runny tortilla. I don’t have a vacuum-pack machine. I don’t have any foam in my kitchens. I don’t use pumping things... My food, I think, is more ... simple. Very natural. What you see is what you get. But this is the way I like to create. This is my passion. I think it’s interesting that there is a return to the more traditional ways of cooking – braising, roasting and so on. We cannot forget about tradition. Your tortilla is the stuff of legends. Do you think there is one correct way to cook something? Your way or the highway? No, not at all [laughs]. I think there is always two ways to cook in a kitchen – and they’re both right. I wouldn’t say my way is better than yours. It’s the way I like to do it. I like to have a warm, runny tortilla. Some people might say, I like to have a cold tortilla. Fine, fine, but I like my tortilla warm and runny. And it’s all about practice. Do you know how many tortillas we eat here?!

Chris Terry

Nieves

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Barragรกn-Mohacho

When you left Barrafina, there was a break before Sabor opened. How did you spend that time? It took us a year and three months to open Sabor and I travelled all over Spain. People said, ‘Oh you must have had a great holiday’. OK, I travelled a lot but it was not a holiday for me, it was research. Sabor is my dream. I always want to bring Sabor to London. So, for me that was 24/7 for one year and three months, thinking, thinking, thinking. You are known as one of the most hardworking people in hospitality… Do you ever take a holiday? All my girlfriends used to say, ‘Even when you are on holiday, you never stop thinking about food’. But that’s because this is my passion. I’m always talking about food, I taste something and say ‘ooh’. Food to me is everything. And also, I’m here at the restaurant

all the time. Sometimes I think, I don’t know if I like something any more – because I’m doing the same thing. When I travel, every time I return and I say, ‘OK I’m ready to be back here’. So it’s super-important to travel, and see what other people are doing, and from there, you do your own style. I go a lot to Spain and I like to go to Asia, I love Italy. Now I’m about to go to Mexico. Yeah, every time I travel, I try to do as much local cuisine as I can. I drink local, I eat local. I want to feel the roots. At other people’s restaurants, do you go to check out the competition, or to support them? It’s important to me to support the new restaurants that open, we should support each other and I like to think I get along with everyone. Also, I want to be updated with what’s happening. But I don’t go the minute they’re open, it’s too early. Imagine how many

wrong things there can be, like a delivery is late, the oven is broken. But at the end of the day, the door opens and you have to perform. You have to perform, and it doesn’t matter what’s gone wrong, you can’t say, ‘Sorry my fish is not good today’. You open, and you get on with it. Do you even have a home?! José and I said we should’ve made a room somewhere, you know, because I’m paying for nothing. It’s like this. Some customers come here, and say ‘Oh wow, the chief owner is on the line in the restaurant’. Yeah! It’s my baby. But even if I just make it back to my home for an hour, I need that hour for myself. It’s my time. Because here at Sabor, everything is open, and everyone sees you and there’s always someone asking you something. Although at my flat, if you open the fridge, it’s empty. In the last year, it’s been empty, because I’ve been here all

“If you listen to your staff and their needs, that’s going to make people work for you longer. Make that person happy!” the time. And I’m off on Sunday and Monday, so I’m at parties. Four days ago, I went away to Madrid, because I’m finding new ingredients. My days off are used to do something. I don’t spend any time at home. Sometimes I do my washing up at 1 o’clock in the morning. Hmmm, that’s not quite so good as a role model. These days, to keep staff, you have to give them reasonable working hours. Exactly, but you if want to have children, for instance, you need to think about how. Our industry is open for lunch and dinner. So it never stops. It’s not like you

open at 9 o’clock and you finish at 6. But, for example, I make my team only work three days and a half, and have three days and a half off. Who has that? I used to work at least six days a week when I was younger. At Simply Nico I used to be off on Sunday and that was just for washing and sleeping. The way I do it, we get the best of everybody. If you listen to your staff and their needs, that’s going to make people work for you longer. People say, I want to go to school in the evenings, can I have a morning? You make sure that person is happy, because if he’s giving

you what you need, you need to give them what they need. Although saying that, the shifts are not fixed, there’s no guarantee of a weekend off…

Stacks of inspiration

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d expect people in the food business to have lots of books, but with so many new titles every year, how do the experts choose what to keep and cook from?

Four women with voracious reading habits share whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on their shelves with Lisa Markwell. Photographs by Harriet Raper

Thomasina Miers

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Co-founder of Wahaca, cookbook author and Guardian columnist, at home in Kensal Rise, London

It feels sometimes like the house is being pulled into the earth by the weight of my cookbook collection! Because I write recipes for a living, there is always something to learn, but I only buy the books of the people I want to read, so I already know there’s a quality standard, both in the food writing and the visuals too. Moro was pretty much the first cookbook I remember, it was so inspiring. I already had a love for Spain but it felt that before Moro, no one had really paid any attention to Spanish food. It was such a breath of fresh air. I search out old books like Richard Olney, Paul Richardson and talk about them with my chef friends. Then there’s Jane Grigson and Elizabeth David, which John Torode told me on MasterChef when I was a contestant. And Delia is right up there, by the way. -26-

It’s quite rare for me to get my head turned by a new book –but I got Salt Fat Acid Heat for my birthday and like A Wong, when you’ve got an expert in their field, their book is quite irresistible. Then sometimes a food writer just breaks out and it’s so inspiring, like Anna Jones – she did something no one had done before. I’m in the process of moving house and I’ve had to get rid of three boxes of books – it was almost impossible, because every time I opened a cookbook I’d start leafing through it. Now that I’ve got three children, gone are the days when I could spend an afternoon with a book. So I spent a Saturday trying to be efficient but all I did was look through an old Thomas Keller and then realised he’s got the best technique for the perfect carrot… so that stayed!

Felicity Cloake

Food writer for The Guardian and others, and author of several food books, including the forthcoming One More Croissant For The Road, at home in Canonbury, Londoin

I’m doing this book on French food, but before that, the France section was quite a lot smaller than the Italian one - but it is huge. I’ve had to go into the bedroom … that subsection is now massive! On the top shelf are the books about food, rather than recipe books; things like MFK Fisher, The Diet Myth, Jay Rayner’s books, Bee Wilson… Then I’ve got my reference section behind me – I was delighted to find I had three guides to cheese. I’ve never asked an author to sign a book, I’m too embarrassed to do that. Well, I did do an event with Yotam Ottolenghi and that time I did ask him to sign, but that’s the only time, although I love it when people do it to me!

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

When I moved into this flat four years ago, I brought about 15 of those big packing boxes with me, filled with books and my collection has just kept growing. It takes up the entire hall. People just keep publishing food books! My problem is, I think ‘Oh, that could be useful one day’, so I never get rid of anything. For instance Coca Cola will send me a cookbook and I think ‘Ugh, I don’t even like Coca Cola… but then if I’m doing a ham in coke recipe I’ll need it. You just never know. But then again, I’m not a reference library so perhaps I should just leave it! You might not be able to tell, but there is a system. It’s divided by baking, country, meat, fish, and so on.

Camilla Schneideman

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Managing director of Leiths School of Food and Wine and cookbook author, at the Leiths library, Shepherd’s Bush, London

We have so many books in the library here but we have to – it means that if the students have a particular ingredient or dish in mind, whether that’s charcuterie or whatever, they can look through a variety of books within one category. The trainee chefs on the diploma course get set projects like ‘lunch for 50’ and they can research widely – from Japanese to vegan, anything really. And the teachers have a big part on choosing which books get onto the shelves. But if I’ve got people coming round for dinner, I’ll come in and have a quick look for inspiration too! It must be very depressing for a cookbook author that people might only ever cook one of their recipes… but that’s what happens with

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lots of books. If I get a new cookbook and I’m excited by it, I’m quite pathetic, I carry it around with me. I asked for the Ottolenghi Simple book for Christmas and read it all. In January, when I was trying to do meat-free I was literally carrying around Anna Jones to dip in and out. I think when people say ‘Oh it’s all gone online’ they’re missing the point. People love books. The other day I found the first cookbook that I ever wrote, which was when I was at university living with a friend who was a rubbish cook always has been, always will be - and she said ‘Can I just have the recipes for things that we’ve eaten’. And I looked at it recently and it was all that stuff that I think, ‘that’s still a good recipe!’

Gemma Bell

Founder of Gemma Bell & Company, PRs to many leading chefs, restaurateurs and food figures, at her office in Islington, London

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

It’s a bit grubby now, but The Mirabelle Cookbook is really special. When I was much younger I worked at the Mirabelle running the PDRs - it was such a fun time. Ben, my husband, bought this for me – and now the building’s been knocked down so it’s a bit of history. Mind you, the pictures looks very dated! It impossible to choose a favourite, but I love Ferran Adria’s The Family Meal. It’s genius; there’s a crisp omelette in here! It takes you through all the steps - it’s the kind of book Ben and I would take on holiday with loads of family, all the recipes scale up. And it’s a wonderful insight into a restaurant, it’s how they cook for each other.

I’ve got about 20 cookbooks at home but when we moved house, there wasn’t enough space for more, so I brought most of my collection to work, thinking they could be useful here. So it’s a collection of my own books, ones by clients and then some I get sent. I always read the introduction and then turn to the back to see if we get a mention! But seriously, it’s good to have the books at work because a good book is inspiring - I encourage people to take one home and read it, cook from it. And it helps the team articulate what a certain chef or restaurant is all about. Nopi was one of my first clients when I started and when the book came out it felt personal to me. I love books where you can see the client’s journey - it’s exciting to be able to say ‘Oh, I remember that.’

Each season, publisher Adam Hyman and editor

Each season, publisher Adam Hyman and editor Lisa Lisa Markwell make it it their business to check out Markwell make their business to check out new restaurants and old favourites. These new restaurants and old favourites. These are the are the places that fuelled this edition of CODE Quarterly places that fuelled this edition of CODE Quarterly

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Tamra Kelly-Washington Leading the way for modern winemakers without land Kelly Washington Wines New Zealand

Tamra has made wine all over the world, her talent leading her to become a head winemaker in Italy at only 25 years old. Seven years later, she’s settled back in New Zealand and alongside her husband Simon, they’ve launched their own label: Kelly Washington Wines. It’s not easy to begin making wine without established vineyards or plenty of money. That’s why we love Tamra’s approach to working with growers who share her quality-led philosophy. Tamra explains further: “First of all, Simon and I thought about the specific sub-regions that we loved throughout New Zealand, then drilled down to the specific vineyards that

we had always admired. We felt that it was a good opportunity to have a different conversation about New Zealand wines, making premium wines of provenance with an organic focus. Organics was a big factor, but also vineyards that would give us the quality of fruit to allow us to make the style of wines that we aspired to. Luckily, most of the growers were happy to supply us with their beautiful grapes! I think that, as we would never be able to buy our own vineyards, we are really fortunate to be able to work with likeminded growers who take a real pride in what they produce.” Tamra is also a mother of two young children, and head winemaker for a well-known Marlborough Estate too. As if she wasn’t brilliant enough!

Maria Jose Yravedra

Connecting her two great passions: architecture and wine Ronsel do Sil Spain

At the top of the steep slopes of the River Sil, an unassumingly small winery is perched overlooking its vineyards. Maria Jose Yravedra – winemaker and architect – made it her mission in 2010 to discover all that nature can offer her 2ha corner of the world, and today her Ribeira Sacra vineyards are brimming with local grape varieties. Part of her unique approach stems from the connection she sees between wine and architecture, as Maria explains: “Both architecture and the tasting of a great wine generate emotional ‘spaces’. There is a parallel between the process of creating an architectural work, and the ‘construction’ of a great wine, because there are common concepts that intersect – landscape, soil and climate; sunlight and structure; design and sustainability.”

When designing her winemaking environment, Maria drew inspiration from the stone terraces and steep slopes that surround the winery. The idea was to make the journey of the grapes from vine to vat as close to the natural form of the landscape as possible. But at the core of it all is the art of winemaking itself, as she explains: “It is very difficult to make a good architecture for wine without understanding the process of making, from the vineyard to the glass.” The revival of Galicia’s forgotten grapes excites Maria greatly. “They say that the best of Galicia is yet to be discovered. Where the winery is located there are pre-phylloxera vines, of which there are some small growers working as custodians of these varieties.” An indigenous revolution is pending, and we’re delighted to see winemakers like Maria at the forefront.

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

To find out more about Bibendum’s diverse portfolio of talented producers, like Tamra and Maria, visit bibendum-wine.co.uk or call 0845 263 6924

Let’s split the bill… with an

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Whether it’s singing in perfect harmony or haggling over a hole in one, there’s no denying that competitive and experiential dining is on the rise. Tom Pilgrim reports on what’s hot

Whether it’s darts, a round of crazy golf, table tennis, axe throwing, bingo or karaoke, competitive socialising - the phrase coined to describe activity-based hospitality - is a rapidly expanding sector of the UK’s leisure industry. Just ask the England rugby team, who had a pre-Six Nations trip to Flight Club in Shoreditch to team-bond over a few rounds of darts. Sharing social experiences off the field may have made the England Rugby team more linked on the field… but what about groups of friends who aren’t professional athletes? How are businesses that are spearheading this trend luring in the punters? UK consumers will undoubtedly still be eating in restaurants years from now, but the demand for experience-based activities is becoming an increasingly important factor in how customers choose to spend their money. Going out for dinner just isn’t enough anymore the opportunity to post an Instagram update of a round of crazy golf with a cocktail in hand has more social value. Consumers are seeking new experiences, and so operators need to think more strategically about how their experience can become a brand that draws in customers frequently. These enterprises are popular with landlords – because they’re some of the only businesses that now want large bricks-and-mortar spaces on high streets. “Nowadays it’s much easier to find space with big-box retail, as a result of a change in the economic climate and more spaces on the high street,” explains Matt Grech-Smith of the golf-meets-drink venture Swingers. “But when we needed 20,000 square feet in one place it was harder.” They

eventually settled on a space near the Gherkin, where the double-height basement is an intrinsic part of the Swingers experience. As he says, “when you walk in amongst all these buildings, and there are trees and plants, it takes you by surprise”. Landlords are bringing emerging experiential concepts into their schemes, to increase the diversity of what they can offer, often helping to reposition underused space and repurpose units. Luke Bishop of bingo-themed bar Dabbers says that social entertainment venues are “very helpful to all aspects of hospitality, as they need large sites and therefore large rents. Landlords who are more flexible should see the benefits of having new tenants breathing life back into disused spaces.” This sentiment is echoed by Whistle Punks’ James Bidgood. “Landlords that work with us benefit from our high percentage of pre-booked trade, and an exciting concept that drives huge interest in their development whilst complimenting more traditional food and beverage tenants. It’s hugely beneficial all round.” It would seem that these concepts are designed to spin off into multiple sites, but out of 170 competitive socialising operators in the UK, only three brands occupy more than ten sites. Trend forecasters predict that the diverse and fragmented nature of this sector actually presents good opportunities for new and existing entrepreneurial operators to become successful. Watch this space/stage/ green/target... __

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n axe

AFTERNOON TEE? ONE CHOP SHOP

IT ALL ADDS UP

The Institute of Competitive Socialising, the business behind London’s original crazy-golf concept, started life as pop-up in a leaky old Shoreditch warehouse. They sold out an entire five-month run. “At this time, you could play table tennis and go up-market bowling, but not much else,” says Swingers co-founder Matt Grech-Smith. “We could see that people wanted a new way to go out and socialise – but had nowhere to do it.” The so-called ‘experience economy’ was taking off, and Swingers were keen to take advantage of this shift. By combining crazy golf, an array of food vendors, cocktails and music (Swingers play disco, soul and funk) Grech-Smith and his team have built an accessible brand. “People want to go out and have unique experiences,” he says, “and it doesn’t matter whether you’re 18 or 80, crazy golf also has universal appeal – and we try and make the food, drink and activity worth coming in for in their own right.” The huge, quirky spaces are a big draw for corporates too – “you can book and know that everybody is catered for”.

Whistle Punks, whose experience is urban axe throwing, believe innovation is the key for long-term success. James Bidgood, senior marketing manager says, “we launched in an old warehouse in Whitechapel on a very short-term lease. After six months we got our first permanent venue – in Vauxhall – and have gone from strength to strength.” Inspired by a Canadian axethrowing company, Whistle Punks offers customers the chance to throw actual axes at targets – an activity that many might think you shouldn’t be able to do in a confined space. In this area of hospitality, giving consumers new and exciting experiences will keep them coming back again – which means constantly checking out what’s going on with other operators. Bidgood certainly believes that “there’s a lot more that can be done especially when looking around the world for different influences.” Consumers want to go home having done something accessible but interesting, and with pictures that get them plenty of vlikes on Instagram, for instance. Axe throwing certainly ticks these boxes, especially, as Bidgood says, there’s lighthearted jeopardy in the mix: “it’s more fun throwing real axes side by side with your mates.”

The value in delivering an all-in-one experience is clearly understood by Paul Barham, COO and co-founder of Flight Club Darts, which opened its first branch in 2015. “There was a real appetite for social experience venues and we saw the potential to build a unique technology-led experience, which didn’t yet exist.” With the option to order food and drinks directly from the oche (the line you stand at to throw the darts), and a camera recording players as they play their winning shots (a montage of which is then emailed to you), Flight Club satisfies the increasing expectation for, as Barham puts it, “exciting experiences and memories that consumers can share with their friends or colleagues.” One challenge is to keep people coming back. For Flight Club, location is key: “If you can find a way to integrate and benefit your community… you’ve established a loyal fanbase that back you from the beginning and will continue to support you.” With hundreds of focus groups under their belt, Barham ensured that his customers were keen. “It’s important to keep listening to what they want too, rather than just jumping on the next trend.”

Whistle Punks Axe Throwing Founded: 2016 Locations: London, Manchester and Birmingham Price: from £22 per person ___

Flight Club Founded: 2015 Locations: Victoria, Bloomsbury, Shoreditch and Manchester with plans to open in Birmingham Price: £15 per person ___

Swingers Founded: 2014 Locations: The City and west end, with plans to open in New York Price: from £10 per person __

THE NUMBERS GAME

Dabbers Social Bingo Founded: 2018 Locations: The City Price: From £11 per person ___

MIC DROP Although not technically ‘competitive’ (Simon Cowell may disagree), Lucky Voice Karaoke has been a mainstay on the social scene since its launch, and fits right into the experiential leisure mould. Good food, drink and service have always been key parts of the experience, argues managing director Charlie Elek, but “having an activity like singing at the core of the time they spend in the venue is what people love and why they keep coming back. It’s all about creating memorable moments with friends, family and colleagues”. Elek, perhaps with the advantage of being one of the first into this area of hospitality, understands the importance of operators seeing themselves as a community. “With new activities and venues being introduced all the time, once groups try one they are wanting to check out more, so we are all helping each other in that respect.” Lucky Voice Founded: 2005 Locations: London, Brighton, Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and Dubai Price: from £7 per person ___ -41-

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The ‘experience economy’ means restaurants and hospitality providers are rethinking how to harness the power of spending money while also being entertained. Set in a large hall with a bespoke ball machine, vegan street food and entertainers, Dabbers, (opened last year) is the UK’s first dedicated immersive bingo hall, and, according its co-founder Luke Bishop, “offers a full evening of entertainment, more akin to visiting the theatre, a cabaret or comedy club.” The idea that consumers can now visit a venue and stay for an entire afternoon or evening has obvious benefits. “We want our customers to spend their whole night with us rather than playing a game for an hour and then heading elsewhere,” he says. With guests hanging out for longer comes increased spending, but Bishop is well aware that for it to work, Dabbers has to be all about having fun.

“Go on, just have one….” Giving up alcohol – and not just for one month – is a challenge for anyone, but imagine when your entire career involves drinking. Zeren Wilson shares his abstinence experience

Four months is a long time to keep batting that ‘just one’ suggestion away during anyone’s week. Sling in a role in the wine trade and you’ve got a combustible recipe for daily torment, a tugging and pulling that knows no end. It feels like I’ve achieved a feat of Herculean proportions: 122 days of a total self-imposed booze ban, nothing, nada, zilch, not a sip – even negotiated a few tastings with genuine, neverbefore-seen 100 per cent spitting (even the good stuff, even the expensive kit), out it goes, sluicing into the spittoon. This was new territory, this was some serious strength of will, this was frightening. It’s not just the role within the drinks industry that made this seem

at Zucca on Bermondsey Street, seeing their eyes light up and accept, pouring a glass of fizzing golden nectar into their glass, and watching as they took that first glorious sip of the evening – knowing how that feels was all part of the pleasure. Delayed gratification would come at the end of the shift, a teeth janglingly cold bottle of Peroni, despatched swiftly – the best beer is aways ‘after service’ beer. Nothing like it on the planet. We all know the mantra of ‘moderation’ in all things, the hoariest of clichés which we know makes sense, yet working in an industry where the whole experience is so tightly bound up with jollity and the potential for excess, means that it can become an

tougher if you’re not feeling too chipper yourself, for whatever reason. I was recently introduced to Healthy Hospo by wine maven Charlotte Wilde – soon to open Darling wine bar – a not-for-profit community interest company with the dream of building a healthier, happier and more sustainable hospitality industry. It’s a laudable venture which ‘strives to provide information, advice, and support on mental and physical health, wellness and living a happier life for all hospitality professionals’, via seminars and workshops, partnering with experts in the fields of health, nutrition and exercise. Whereas this kind of ‘wellness’ schtick may have got short shrift from me in the past, I can now

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“It’s easy to be sucked into a whiplash cycle of work, pub, drinks at home, work up a hunger with a sharpener, hungover breakfast, swift livener... And repeat” like a tough ask. It’s the pints in between, it’s the ‘one for the roads’, it’s the catalogue of G&Ts and Negronis that tot up each night. Realising that not many days (if any) during the week are without a glass of something, and knowing that I need to shift some weight – a fair whack of timber needing to be shipped – the diary shows me that exactly four months from today will be Christmas Eve, and the decision is made: let’s buckle up for the ride, let’s do this. Anyone working in hospitality will understand the lures and pitfalls that are bound up with the role, with alcohol such an important – and wonderful, exciting, compelling – part of the job, that’s it’s difficult to imagine the best moments without it. I got a vicarious kick from offering a glass of Franciacorta to guests during my time

issue for some people. It’s easy to be sucked into a whiplash cycle of work, pub, drinks at home, work up a hunger with a ‘sharpener’, ooh really fancy a takeaway, more drinks, bed, hungover breakfast, swift livener at 12pm to ‘take the edge off’, repeat. Chef Tom Kerridge’s well publicised 12-stone weight loss was helped, in no small part, by cutting out alcohol completely – for him, and for many others, it’s a point of no return, tapping out forever. During my stint, this four months of zero% ABV did most of the work in shifting those kilos – it was worth the aggressive drink shut-down. Job done. There’s no doubt that the world of hospitality has its own very particular stresses and temptations, amplified by the fact that the whole shindig is about making other people happy: it’s a bloody hard job, made exponentially -42-

appreciate it’s great to see this kind of support available, for a breathless industry that often doesn’t have time to slow down and take stock of things, least of all wellbeing. During those four months I become mesmerised by the figures: 97 kg down to 96.2 kg today; 256 kcals in that pint; 10.1 units in that bottle; 78kcals in that egg; 13.5% ABV of 750ml = 567 kcals; 86.2 kg today; 750kcals eaten today; 24 days no booze; 68 days; 97 days; 7kcals per gram of alcohol, 9kcals per gram in fat. So it kicks on, swirling around amongst numbers, hammering black tea, micro-dosing with apple cider vinegar…oh and swimming, there’s regular morning swims too, but it’s this self-denial of wine/gin/beer that’s doing the donkey work, no doubt, and I’m fist-bumping myself each morning

supply of filtered sparkling, that’ll do. Keep ‘em coming, please. The alternatives? I’ve always been slighty sneery towards the growing alcohol-free options, gnashing teeth at the savage price of Seedlip’s ‘distilled non-alcoholic spirits’. £28 a bottle can do one. Still, genius business idea, ahead of the curve, and blowing wide open a category that is booming. Stryyk is one I’ve recently tasted at Caravan restaurants, with its tagline ‘all the spirit, none of the alcohol, and note that it’s almost half the price of its trailblazing predecessor. I’m also passed a sample of Lucky Saint lager, and dammit, it tastes more than OK, brewed in Germany in a Pilsner style, and ooh look it’s 0.5%, and only 53kcals. Maybe I can look beer in the face again. I begin to think maybe it’s the motion of drinking which is a huge part of social drinking, the action, the up down, the glass to the lips. A pint of soda water (x6) in a pub while watching football helped. A lot. 122 days later – but hey, who’s counting? – and the fitting drop on 24 December, Pol Roger ‘Pure’ Champagne with my oldest friend Adam and his family. It’s supreme, zero-dosage (no added sugar at bottling), 55kcals (oh virtuous joy) per glass. That was that. It felt a bit anticlimactic, there was no round of applause, no angelic choirs. Whatever happened over that period worked, 26kg (almost four stone) of timber -43-

shifted…cheerio. The comments that came as I met friends who hadn’t seen me for a few months ranged from ‘mate, you look amazing’ to ‘f**k, where’s the rest of you?’, motivating encouragement to make me want to maintain whatever results have been achieved. Am back in First Team action again, just a bit warier, a bit more cautious and slinging in many more days saying ‘no thanks’ and ‘can I have soda water please?’ I viewed ‘Dry January’ through a different lens this year, the thought of a token month of abstinence looking a bit juvenile and, ultimately, futile, however well-meaning the sentiment and intention – it’s a lifestyle shift that is more likely to bring the big rewards, the biggest benefits, and reclaiming some balance in a hectic work/life schedule will be the ongoing challenge for many of us. Get me, Mr Preachy. Right, where’s that Franciacorta? “Ok, I’ll have just the one. Pint of soda water, please.”

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

as the weight continues to shift, dropping off, 2kg, 5kg, there it goes, bye bye. I fall into a wormhole of YouTube videos, one of them describing beer as essentially drinking ‘liquid bread’, the emptiest of calories, loaded with the kind of carbohydrates to decimate any potential weight loss. The phrase haunts me. The recommended weekly 14 units now seem hilariously low (6 pints!), with a standard Saturday at the football seeing many of us blasting through that in a day with ease. Then those figures again: 6 x 256kcals = 1536 kcals. Bang goes most of the day’s recommended calories right there. Can I ever look at a pint the same way again? Do I have a problem? Do many of us have a problem without realising it? Maybe I should just kick the whole thing in to touch, forever? I’m enjoying the mental battle each day, a test of strength. Use the force, Luke… I begin to annoy some mates. I can hear myself sounding preachy. The diary begins to look like a minefield: wine tasting; restaurant launch party; wine tasting; lunch booked; dinner booked; lunch and dinner booked. I agonise over which I can cancel. Maybe I just won’t turn up to that one; and that one; yep, that one too: better, safer, clear. Out damn spot. It gets easier though, this novelty of lunch and dinner without the white heat of alcohol flushing the cheeks…a limitless

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Tools of the trade In this regular feature, we take a closer look at the workspace of people who inspire us. Here, Cherie Spriggs, head winemaker at Nyetimber, talks about her life, work and the tools she takes everywhere with her. Photographs by Joe Sarah Canadian by birth, Cherie Spriggs has worked at Nyetimber, the English sparkling wine producers, since 2007. Last July she was named Sparkling Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge 2018. It is the first time that a woman winemaker, as well as the first winemaker from outside Champagne, has won the award - testament to her skill and finesse in making what is widely regarded as one of our country’s most prestigious wines. Her background, as she explains, gives her a very particular insight into the alchemy of winemaking.

bottled all of the wines, then we have a bit of a quieter period where we’re getting more into preparation for our harvest period. And a typical day at harvest is seven days a week, 18-hour days. The grapes are not gonna wait for you. They don’t care. You’re on their timeline, not yours. So you have to respond to what they demand of you. Those days are just incredibly intensive. Home life We may taste wine all day, but when Brad and I get home, we do drink. But I’m not a Michelin-level chef so we basically try to keep it fairly simple. There are some beautiful, wonderful pairings that you can experience in great restaurants – it’s such a pleasure to see Nyetimber in so many good restaurants these days. I can go out and try rather than have to try and create it. Brad’s first love is Bordeaux, and mine is Burgundy. So Christmas day comes around and we have roast beef. OK, well, we’re gonna have Nyetimber to start – it pairs beautifully with smoked salmon, for instance. But when you come to the roast beef course, that’s just too strong for great sparkling. So, we’re then debating the red wine and one year he’ll win, and some years I win. Anyway. Yeah, it’s good fun.

intensive job because in this modern era, people often think it’s done by machine. It’s not. Every single one of those vines out there is cut with secateurs by hand. In the winery, we’re working on putting together the blends of the wines from what we harvested in October of last year. So my day could involve quite a lot of tastings for all the different wines that we have in the winery. And it will evolve through the year. Once we’ve blended and -45-

The tools Really, my nose and my palate. The best time of day for technical tasting is late morning, so after your breakfast and any coffees you’ve had have fully left your tastebuds. So you’re a little bit hungry because lunch is coming, and you’ve used common sense with your breakfast. I am not having curry for breakfast that morning. Another thing that people don’t always necessarily know is you want to make sure you stay hydrated

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The background I studied biochemistry at university in Ontario but I always loved the creative side of life – I played classical piano to a high level. I went to visit my (now husband) Brad Greatrix who was studying in Switzerland and by then had fallen in love with wine and was devouring every book I could get my hands on. It was September, we had some free time and I thought ‘let’s pop over to Burgundy, it’s so close’. Having actually seen the winemaking process, I decided to do a PHD at a newly-started Wine Research Center in Vancouver and then finished off with a year to complete an oenology degree at Adelaide University. At this point Brad said “Why don’t we just apply for our dream jobs? Things we’ll probably never actually do?” Funnily enough my parents had taken a trip to England not long before and I’d asked them to bring me some Nyetimber because I’d read about it. So I thought, I’d like to make sparkling wine in England because it’s such a pioneering industry with such potential – and just sent an email to the generic Nyetimber address. I got the response “Well actually we’re looking for two winemakers as we speak, so send us your CVs.” And the rest is history…

The setting What do I do on a typical day? There’s no such thing! Here in East Sussex (we have vineyards in Kent and Hampshire too), there’s a natural change that necessarily happens throughout the year. So right now it could involve checking in with our viticulturist and going to the vineyard to see what’s happening there. There’s a lot of pruning happening and that’s an

because the saliva in your mouth is directly linked to your hydration. And if you’ve got a really dry mouth, you’ll taste differently than if you have a normal level. There is still a very strong element of wine that is subjective. The key thing, I think, is that it relies more on your flavour memory, it is quite complex. Sparkling wine, of course, is highly controlled. And that’s directly proportional to the amount of sugar that is fermented by the yeast inside the bottle. So in simple terms, the more sugar that’s in the bottle when it is closed to start fermentation, the more pressure, the more bubbles. So that’s the kind of linear relationship. For the quality control and consistency of product, that’s very, very managed, to a high degree, we have a lab technician and we’re doing yeast counts – that should be done in a very precise manner. I do know some producers who aren’t so fussed about having yeast counts and checking the sugars and such. But it’s something that we feel is important to control because we do want to ensure that we’re getting what we want, not just what happens. The skill of tasting People ask, when they’re coming into wine, “How to you start? I just smell wine. I don’t really understand what the components are.” Some things you can break down. So I say to them, “Well, if you want to know what acid is like on the palate,

get pure acid, taste that. If you want to know what sugar is like, take pure sugar, taste that.” There’s some things that you can practice, as it were. But for other things, like that really citrusy flavour, you have to start paying attention to those flavours in your life on a broader scale as well. So, when you’re cooking, grab that lemon, cut it open, smell it. But not just smelling, “Oh yes, that’s lovely,” but literally, really, close your eyes, smell it, and try to imprint that impression into your mind. That helps you. And after that, it’s practice. So, drink lots of wine! The language of the winemaker I’ve always said the most difficult thing about wine is talking about it. It really is. Putting words to wine is near-on impossible to be precise about. I often tell new people to the business about a really interesting experience for me in wine school in Adelaide. You do this class called sensory study, sitting around a table with a variety of people. You’re all tasting the same wine. You have to write your tasting notes and then talk about the wine. So we were tasting a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand, and I was writing down things like gooseberry, things that we now very classically associate with that wine. I was sitting across from a lady who said, “I smell things like jackfruit.” And she looked at me and went, “What’s a gooseberry?” And I looked at her

and I went, “What’s a jackfruit?” You are, of course, trained to look for faults in wine, particular compounds, and those are the most straightforward parts of winemaking, to find those. The structure of the wine and the harmony are what we are looking for. Working with your husband What’s wonderful for me about tasting with Brad is because we’ve been together for almost 20 years, and I know which things he’s more acute to, and he knows what I’m more acute to. So if I say to him, “There’s reduction in that one,” and he doesn’t smell it, he doesn’t even think twice about saying, “No, you’re wrong,” because he knows I’m much more acutely sensitive to that than him, and vice versa for things that he’s sensitive to. Do I think there’s a male/ female split? No. I think it’s human. I do think that women stylistically perhaps tend to a certain ilk. But in terms of absolute acuity for certain compounds, I really think it’s just human variation. Some guys are better at some things.

The drinks report The recent London Sake Week proves that this elegant, widely varied drink is on the rise. For the beginner, it’s sometimes hard to choose from hot, cold, cloudy, sparkling and so on… Luckily we have an expert on hand. Natsuki Kikuya, director of the Museum of Sake, has chosen six great examples to try. And look out for her sake shop/bar, which will open this summer in London.

Natsuki Kikuya, global sake educator

SAKE KAMEMAN Red Rice The unusual deep ruby colour of this sake comes from heirloom red rice, bred since ancient times. It has an earthy and oxidative nose, dark cherry compote and bitter chocolate with distinctive umami. The producer is environmentally conscious and local rice growers let ducks swim through the rice paddies to eat the weeds and bugs. Great to mix with soda water to make your own ruby spritz. 15% abv, 300ml, £17.50 uk.japan-gourmet.com ___

FIZU by Kanpai London London’s proud local sake, made in Peckham by Tom and Lucy Wilson at Kanpai, the UK’s first sake brewery. This unique ‘Fizu’ sake is naturally sparkling from a second fermentation within the bottle and dry hopped at the end to give pleasant lime zest bitterness and crisp finish. 11.5% abv, 375ml, £17.50 , shop.hopburnsblack.co.uk ___

KAZE NO MORI Akitsuho Junmai Daiginjo Nama Aromatic and slightly effervescent, Kaze no Mori (meaning ‘forest of the winds’) has the scent of juicy nectarine and vanilla cream, rich and lively textures and a long, lingering finish. It is made by their locally grown Akitsuho rice and uniquely unpasteurised to give zesty characteristics. Great on its own, but beautiful with delicately sweet cream desserts like cream brûlée. 17% abv., 720ml, £57.10, japancentre.com ___

TATENOKAWA 50 Stream This sake is fresh, smooth and has a pure cleanness like a beautiful water stream. On the tongue, there’s green pears, starfruit and hint of elderflower, and its lighter abv makes it perfect to serve chilled as aperitif. Alternatively, it pairs nicely with céviche or vinegared clams. 14%, 720ml, £30, tengusake.com ___

TAMAGAWA Red Label Philip Harper is the only British Toji (sake master brewer) and very first non-Japanese sake brewer in Japan. His sake-making talks to nature - he is undoing /skipping most of the manufactured process of sake making such as unusing cultured yeast, using instead the natural Yamahai method, un-charcoal fining, un-pasteurising and un-diluting to express a bold, rich, and extremely complex sake with mushroom, coffee, caramelised hazelnuts, candied stonefruits and marmite. 20% abv, 720ml, £28.25, thewhiskyexchange.com ___

Natsuki Kikuya natsukipim -47-

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EARL GREY TEA Sake Liqueur by Niizawa Brewery This last one is not technically sake, but an exciting sake-based earl grey tea liquor. With elegant aromas of bergamot, it has great balance of sweetness and bitter tannin flavour. This ready-made artisanal product is ideal for any ‘iced tea’ cocktail, although in Japan some people enjoy it mixed with milk to make milk tea cocktail. 13% abv, £29.99, simplywinesdirect.uk or finewinecompany.co.uk ___

On the shelf Spring brings a flourishing crop of new books – with a particularly fabulous one devoted to chocolate, just in time for Easter… Whether it’s a poetic love letter to a culinary upbringing or masterful manual devoted to one type of food, this season’s new food titles have inspired the team at CODE

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

1. COCOA: AN EXPLORATION OF CHOCOLATE, WITH RECIPES

By Sue Quinn Cocoa is a rich exploration of chocolate’s exotic cultural history, from the Mayans and Aztecs and the ancient trade routes of cacao – to the current $100 billion global chocolate confectionery market. Sue Quinn’s authoritative, entertaining book includes illustrations of iconic advertisements, vintage packaging, plus 80 sweet and savoury recipes like chocolate and yuzu lava cakes, and coffee, chocolate and chipotle-glazed beef short ribs. An essential read for any chocolate lover.

TOKYO STORIES: A JAPANESE COOKBOOK

3.THE CYCLING CHEF

By Tim Anderson Anderson’s cookbook is a manifestation of his love of Japan’s capital city. The chef guides readers through an A-Z of Japanese ingredients, then takes you up, like a skyscraper’s elevator, through levels of skill and complexity. So from fried rice with salmon scraps to making your own tofu from scratch, it’s all in here – and illustrated both in words and photographs with almost psychedelic enthusiasm. We’d love to see a Tim and Wes Anderson collab. £26, Hardie Grant

£25, Hardie Grant

by Alan Murchison From gaining a Michelin star to cooking for the British Cycling’s elite, Alan Murchison knows a thing or two about fuelling for performance. The Cycling Chef: Recipes for Performance and pleasure dovetails as a nutritional guide and a homage to classic cycling through a beautiful series of black and white snapshots. Alongside accessible recipes are invaluable guides on how to fit a high-performance diet into your life without breaking the bank. So whether you’re simply commuting to work on two-wheels or taking things a little more seriously, there’s no excuse not to fuel up and get out on your bike.

4. THE VINEGAR CUPBOARD

By Angela Clutton Angela Clutton has written a brilliant guide to that most useful of kitchen ingredients: vinegar. As all chefs know, it brightens dishes like nothing else, and there are dozens of different ones to try. This lovely book contains guides to the different flavour profiles and then shares recipes for everything from pickles to pavlovas. Handy flavour wheels make pairing a vinegar with a dish or ingredient a breeze. Highly recommended. £26, Bloomsbury Absolute

9. 10.

7. 1.

6. 4.

2. 3.

By Kay Plunkett-Hogge Anyone who follows Kay Plunkett-Hogge on social media will know that she’s a warm, funny writer with great stories to tell and experiences to share. She’s written for other people’s cookbooks before, but Baan is highly personal and goes back to her childhood spent in Thailand. Through eye-popping photography and intensely flavoured recipes, you’ll be transported – and there are elephants too! £20, Pavilion

7. TU CASA MI CASA: MEXICAN RECIPES FOR THE HOME COOK

By Ben Tish For more than a year, and while he’s also been evolving the menus at The Stafford Hotel, Ben Tish has been working on recipes for this, his passion project. Moorish: Vibrant Recipes from the Mediterranean is an homage to the historic and contemporary cooking of the Mediterranean – dishes that showcase the myriad influences of the region, which transcend borders. So expect to find Sicilian-style seafood couscous, wood pigeon with lardo, pomegranate molasses and salted walnuts, a mint and orange cheesecake with pine nuts – and some potent-looking drinks too. All with sumptuous photography. £26, Bloomsbury Absolute

£22, Bloomsbury

6. BAAN: RECIPES AND STORIES FROM MY THAI HOME

5. MOORISH

By Enrique Olvera Enrique Olvera is best known for bringing Mexican food to international attention with Pujol in Mexico City and Cosme and Atla in New York. But with Tu Casa Mi Casa, he returns to home cooking, with 100 of his country’s best-loved dishes. From tortillas, tostadas, tlayudas, tetelas, tamales and tacos (that’s just from masa, or corn dough) to salsa that should be as individual as its maker, Olvera’s instruction is generous in spirit and fascinating in its detail.

8. 7000 ISLANDS

By Yasmin Newman Filipino food is very much on the radar, so the timing couldn’t be better for this bright and breezy guide (subtitled Cherished Recipes and Stories from the Philippines) to a relatively unexploited cuisine. The author is Australian with a Filipino mother and spends lots of time on the islands that make up the nation (yes there really are more than 7,000), so the recipes are authoritative and authentic. Don’t miss the array of vibrant salads, rich meat dishes and the fab-looking Halo Halo shaved ice drink. £18.99, Hardie Grant

£29.95, Phaidon

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9.THE TURKISH COOKBOOK

By Musa Daĝdeviren Not many chefs can include military catering on their CVs, but Musa Daĝdeviren is a man with all manner of experience… and a never-ending curiosity about the food of his native Turkey. In addition to his own thriving restaurants in Istanbul, he travels widely and has collected 500 recipes in this exhaustive collection – from familiar kebabs to all manner of bakes, and such delights as sweet and sour veal liver. Stories of Turkey’s rich culinary heritage and beautiful photographs make this a compelling book. £35, Phaidon

10. CRUMB: SHOW THE DOUGH WHO’S BOSS

By Richard Bertinet No shortage of books about baking these days, but Bertinet is the boss (just like the subtitle suggests). In this, his sixth book, he’s sharing his boss credentials with stepby-step visuals and no-nonsense, detailed advice. So whether you’re wrestling with a sourdough starter or want to perfect buns, this is where to come. Oh, and mouthwatering ideas for amazing stuffed fougasse, baked brie in brioche, sweet croustades and more.

£25, Kyle

The winter edition of CODE Quarterly celebrated the 30 under 30 rising stars of the hospitality community and it was with enormous pleasure that we were able to mark the occasion with a dinner. We were joined by some of the restaurant world’s biggest names – the best sights of the night were watching friendships form and collaborations plotted. None of it would have been possible without the amazing hospitality of Claridge’s, who hosted us in a stunning private dining room. Everyone in the room wanted to talk to the hotel’s masterful head chef Martyn Nail – in awe of the 50 perfect chocolate soufflés that arrived simultaneously, and of London’s hottest new canapé, lobster wellington. CODE’s founder Adam Hyman made a rousing speech on the importance of supporting young talent, toasting the room with delicious wine supplied by Louis Roederer.

In association with

An Englishman in Hong Kong When your culinary identity is all about local and seasonal, how do you adapt to open a restaurant on the other side of the world? Simon Rogan tells us about the challenges and opportunities of taking London’s Aulis and Roganic to Asia

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

So the past eight months of planning, preparation and patience have paid off; we are opening Roganic Hong Kong in a few days and I couldn’t be more happy about it. This follows the opening of Aulis Hong Kong last month– our chef ’s table and development kitchen style dining experience (mirroring the offering at Aulis London and Aulis Cartmel) which was exciting, tremendously busy and nerve-wracking all at the same time. We were optimistic that Hong Kong locals and its visitors would love Aulis and the concept, but you never know how a restaurant will translate when it’s picked up and recreated half way across the globe. Luckily the Hong Kong diners seem completely enamoured with it, an experience which involves watching the chefs cook and plate up directly in front of the diners... and which, with only 12 seats, must be one of the most intimate restaurants in the city. Roganic, which seats 25 covers instead of 12 and is just next door, has been slightly more of a challenge to set-up but to see everything come together is a really proud moment for the team and I, which has been a huge learning curve, and not without its obstacles, but a pinnacle experience in my career all the same. What’s different Hong Kong has a real culinary buzz with everything moving at a million miles an hour to make things happen. That is, of course, unless you are opening a couple of restaurants over Christmas and Chinese New Year in a Hong Kong/UK operation as we were doing, and you discover things can’t always happen at the drop of a hat, which brought a huge challenge. Getting under the skin of the city has been a priority of mine, and I’ve encouraged the team to the do the same. We have been busy seeing some wonderful sights in an effort to understand Hong Kong a little better. Everything is big and bold here, which is a little different to how I normally like to work,

and it couldn’t be further from the familiar surroundings of Cartmel: it has taken a bit of adjustment. I’m a big believer in keeping things discreet and letting the guests make up their own mind, so if I had my way our restaurants wouldn’t even have signage… but that might make things a little tricky. It’s an exciting time for Hong Kong as a whole. Recently we have seen the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge which at 55km long is the longest connecting bridge on the planet. There is something very surreal

about being 27km out to sea in a car with no land in sight. But when it comes to big and bold, Macau take all the podium positions. With all of the big-name casinos, I was shocked to learn that although it is a fraction of the size of Las Vegas, it takes a huge amount more revenue every day. On average in 2018, Macau was taking over $75m every day. Although you won’t find me on the tables adding to this, I am looking forward to a couple of dinners that I am doing in Wynn Palace for Asia’s 50 Best annual celebrations in March. One of these -52-

is with the wonderful Vicky Lau whose restaurant, The Tate Dining Room, is one of the pinnacles of the Hong Kong dining scene - with food that is a visually beautiful story throughout. Definitely one of my favourite meals in Hong Kong (and there’s been a few!) Understanding the region’s taste As I spend more time here, I have found myself understanding the local likes and dislikes more and more, which has helped me to influence the style of the restaurant. I am excited to bring our UK ethos to the city and it’s also my belief that you can’t ignore your surroundings and create a carbon copy of something just anywhere. I have spent a lot of time balancing flavour profiles, seasoning and acidity in a way that pleases the local guests and shows off some of the ingredients we are sourcing from the area to the most. Local ingredients The concept of a strong connection with our ingredient’s provenance was something we were originally advised against as it is a relatively new concept to Hong Kong. In the UK the concept of the locality of ingredients has long been at the forefront of most chef ’s minds – it’s now a given in everyday eating at most restaurants. As a result, the suppliers support this and it’s not so much of a challenge to regularly source the best from the area. However, for many years Hong Kong has relied on importation and very little attention has been paid towards growing or sourcing locally. We have found a few small organic farms up in the new territories (Northern part of mainland HK) which have been integral to ensuring that we embrace our ethos into the region. We now have dishes on the menu made completely out of locally grown organic produce (see farm, pictured right), which has been really inspiring. The local fish markets showcase an incredible array of delicacies. Vicky Cheng from Vea restaurant was kind enough to give up some of

A few of my Hong Kong favourites

VEA Vicky Cheng’s restaurant combines a great atmosphere, full of personality with a great respect for HK vea.hk _

TATE Vicky Lau’s food is absolutely beautiful in the most elegantly designed setting tate.com.hk _

his time and accompany us around Aberdeen market, picking a variety of different local fish and shellfish for us to learn about. Afterwards, we went upstairs to a very basic canteen-style room with plastic tablecloths to then be accosted by a team of fantastic ladies who cooked the fish according to our requests. It was absolutely wonderful and inspiring. Growing our own One thing I have gladly imported is our three new Evogro systems. These allow us to grow flowers, cresses and shoots right here in the restaurant. With one located on the desserts bar and two next to Aulis, we are able to provide ourselves with all of the finishing touches to our dishes that we need. It’s not quite our farm back in Cartmel, but it’s as close as we are going to get.

BELON Tasty, tasty, tasty food I could eat all day long with warm personal service belonsoho.com _

ECRITURE Smooth service with technically brilliant food lecomptoir.hk/ecriture _

YARDBIRD Yakitori specialists that every chef would want to eat at on their day off yardbirdrestaurant.com

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Design I’m extremely pleased with the design of the restaurants. We have been keen to bring the feeling of our UK sites here in an attempt to offer something different to the dining scene - as well as make us feel at home. There are a lot of natural textures coming from the stone, rich wood and hints of rust along with a beautiful willow ceiling. Anyone who has spent time in the gorgeous

village of Cartmel will have seen the weeping willow trees located by the river next to Rogan and Co and the stone walls surrounding L’Enclume. We have also brought in our floor from Roganic London, made of recycled plastic, which ties everything together. So now I’m excited and keen to open the doors to see how the public reacts and how the room feels with guests in. We have the beautiful bar serving an array of our in-house cocktails and non-alcoholic drinks, the dessert bar, private dining galore and the main dining room along with the already heavily booked out 12-seater Aulis-Hong Kong. I’m incredibly proud of the team and can’t thank the people who have come over from the UK enough for being a part of this project as well as the new members that have joined from right here in Hong Kong. This really is the start of something special. I’ll see you soon.

24 hours in... Cape Town By Adam Hyman, founder of CODE Hospitality

There’s a good reason why Cape Town has become a major holiday destination for food lovers. Where once the area’s vineyards might have been the big draw, now myriad stylish cafes and fine dining restaurants mean you’ll struggle to visit all the hot spots in a week, never mind 24 hours. The gourmet trail starts here...

12am

1pm

Stay at The Silo hotel

Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront is home to the Silo Hotel. Part of the Royal Portfolio – that also has properties in Kruger and Franschhoek – the Silo occupies the six floors above Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Arts Africa in the historic grain silo. The exterior was designed by Heatherwick Studio and the hotel is super swish inside rooms have views of the docks and Table Mountain. The rooftop pool and bar is the place to grab a drink. theroyalportfolio.com/the-silo

Lunch at Steenberg Farm

10am

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

9am

A 20-minute drive from Cape Town is the stunning Steenberg Farm - a perfect spot for lunch outside the hustle and bustle of the city. It holds the prestigious title of the Cape’s first farm, established in 1682, and is home to a 24-room hotel, two restaurants, vineyards and an 18hole golf course. We ate at Steenberg’s less formal restaurant, Bistro Sixteen82. The sun-dappled terrace with views over the estate is the perfect place for lunch and to enjoy their wines. steenbergfarm.com

Coffee at Haas Collective

Meaning rabbit in Afrikaans, Haas was set up by three creatives - Glynn Venter, Francois Irvine and Tess Berlein. The quirky store in the heart of Cape Town is more than a coffee shop; it showcases all sorts of collectibles and pieces of art but now also acts as a creative hub with their Haas advertising business calling it HQ. Good people-watching too. haascollective.com/coffee

Breakfast at Loading Bay

The interiors of Loading Bay are definitely one for the ‘gram. This spot serves breakfast all day and has a cool boutique and Aesop store upstairs. The light-filled space is a perfect setup to enjoy breakfast with dishes such as poached eggs on toast and even healthier options including coconut porridge. loadingbay.co.za . -54-

8pm Pot Luck Club

The Pot Luck Club is located above one of Cape Town’s most famous restaurants, Test Kitchen, in a silo over the Old Biscuit Mill. Chef Luke Dale Robert’s sixth-floor restaurant is more casual than its sister restaurant downstairs, with a focus on small plates and it’s clearly a popular spot with trendy locals and gastrotourists. The tick box menu adds to the fun too. thepotluckclub.co.za

4pm

10pm Duchess of Wisbeach

Ice cream at Unframed

If you fancy a spot of dancing after dinner, then head to The Duchess of Wisbeach in Sea Point. This newly happening part of Cape Town is a blend of the old and new along the Atlantic coast with a number of cool restaurants, bars and shops. The Duchess serves great French bistro food but is also a nice after-dinner spot for drinks – with a sort of NYC speakeasy vibe. duchessofwisbeach.co.za

Unframed is one of the best spots in Cape Town to get your ice cream fix in the afternoon. Along with on-trend flavours such as turmeric latte and sea salt caramel, Unframed also serves vegan ice cream and sorbets. This ice cream parlour located on the buzzy Kloof Street also offers funky toppings for your ice cream - including raw date caramel. unframed.co.za

7pm Pre dinner drinks at Mount Nelson hotel

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Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

The Mount Nelson is a Belmond hotel, which means it’s got that grand, old-school feel that you associate with that brand. It’s certainly one of the finest luxury hotels in Cape Town – the pink exteriors of the hotel are beautifully set in manicured grounds, where hotel guests and locals enjoy a G&T or two at sunset. belmond.com

Instagrab With a new opening or a menu change comes the inevitable flurry of social media snaps. So what’s feeding the news feed this season? The lobster wellington at Claridge’s became an instant sensation (we’re surprised it doesn’t have its own account), The French House’s old-school dishes were a hit, plus the explosive arrival of ultra-Italian Gloria

A classic revisited We work in an industry in thrall to the new, so sometimes old-school restaurants don’t get the attention they deserve. Loyd Grossman celebrates the unchangingly elegant west London landmark Clarke’s

singularly dedicated to - what should be that fundamental of restaurateurship - bringing joy to its customers. The dining room is calm and spacious. At least six more tables could be fitted in but thankfully they’re not. A recent dinner offered sparklingly fresh and excitingly minimalistic crab and avocado salad with featherweight rye wafers and a Sardinian ricotta,

kumquat. The wine list is well chosen and prices are fair. There is a set three-course dinner on offer for £39, which by current London standards is ridiculously cheap for cooking of this quality. Sally has never overtly banged the drum for her particular style of cooking nor for the (thankfully) rising status of women in the restaurant

might be considered as a more modern attachment to seasonality, sustainability and localism. Her epiphany came in the 1970s when she was living in California and discovered Alice Waters’ cooking at Chez Panisse in California. Back in London, she opened the doors to her own restaurant in 1984, shocking diners with a no-choice set menu and with startlingly fresh flavours too. Today she may reign over a mini empire - and the no-choice menu has given way to a la carte - but she remains refreshingly hands-on and present, as likely to be hanging up diners’ coats as to be working in the kitchen. And Clarke’s remains

pear and walnut salad. Such simple dishes are only possible when immense care has gone into sourcing, preparation and presentation: there’s nowhere to hide. Roasted wild Scottish halibut with a light dill and prosecco sauce was superb and brought the quayside to Kensington Church Street, and what could have been an unexciting chicken breast was stuffed with spinach and mushrooms, intensely roasted and beautifully and unfussily presented with pumpkin, parsnips and cavolo nero. Every dish represented a fine balance of flavours: a panettone bread and butter pudding was raised to a higher level thanks to a sharp spike of

business, but she has led from the front consistently for more than 30 years as a great role model, a great cook and a great restaurateur. Her quiet, consistent influence has been immensely important and inspiring.

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Clarke’s, 124 Kensington Church Street, London W8 4BH sallyclarke.com

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

All hail Sally Clarke. One hopes that many may now be too embarrassed to still refer to cooking as ‘the new rock and roll’ but the bombast, egoism, hyperbole and pointless showing off that entailed still affects too many chefs and kitchens. To describe Sally’s virtues as old fashioned may sound like faint praise, but is not. More than most cooks, she embodies the enduring values of modesty, professionalism and sheer delight coupled with what

Staff meal

Bhuna Kaleji Stir fried liver

What do you eat when you get home after service? Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express shares her recipe ___ Not only does Asma Khan run a thriving restaurant in London’s west end, she also champions women in hospitality (see page 11) and is the subject of a Chef’s Table documentary. The dish she’s chosen for Staff Meal is a fragrant, spicy supper that uses a humble meat cut, liver. Her advice is “always bring the liver to room temperature before you use it. You can also use chicken liver - the cooking time would have to be reduced and the liver should not be chopped.”

Photographed and tested by Alexander Taralezhkov

Issue 18 | Spring 2019 | codehospitality.co.uk

Serves 4 1 tbsp ½ inch 3 1 500g 1 3 2 1 tsp ¼ tsp

vegetable oil ginger, finely chopped cloves of garlic, minced whole dried red chilli lamb liver, chopped into ½ inch cubes medium onion chopped green chillies chopped (cut the chillies into one inch pieces so those who want to avoid it can see it!) medium tomatoes, chopped salt black pepper

Chopped coriander to garnish

Method 1. Heat the oil on medium high heat in a non-stick frying pan. Add the dried red chilli, followed immediately with the chopped onion, ginger and garlic to the hot oil and stir till the mixture starts to turn light brown (do not let the garlic burn) - this can take up to 4 minutes. 2. Add the liver and stir fry on high heat. You need to make sure there is still enough moisture in your onion, ginger garlic mixture when you add the liver - as no water is added in this dish.

3. When the liver is sealed on all sides- usually after 2 minutes add the green chillies, chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and continue to fry on high heat till the tomato juice is absorbed and the oil separates from the liver. 4. Serve with a sprinkling of coriander on the top. When cooking with liver it is hard to give accurate timings as cooking time varies hugely depending on the liver you use. Darjeeling Express, Kingly Court, Carnaby St, Soho, London W1B 5PW; darjeeling-express.com

Dinner by Heston

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