Dabbous; Fitzrovia, London

Arriving in London in September, I was swept away by our capital’s food scene. Never had I lived somewhere with a food scene of such tremendous proportions. Tens (and tens squared) of markets, multitudes of producers and armies of chefs. Indeed, some of the world’s best. And the restaurants – in number they topple thousands and this only grows each year as hundreds more open, dice cast. Into this scene, I greedily dived – not so much head first as stomach, a veritable belly flop – and started work as a radio presenter for a London based station, hosting a weekly food show.

My first assignment was to cover the London Restaurant Week Festival Awards, celebrating our capital’s best restaurants and chefs. From this evening, what I remember more than anything was a repeated and hushed whisper of one name in particular. Amidst the free Moet and amongst the canapés, ‘Dabbous, Dabbous’ resounded.

I’ll admit, I hadn’t heard of it. New to London and actually quite clueless (not legless), I scribbled down ‘Babboo’ in my notes when it was announced as the winner of London’s Best New Restaurant and spent many a fruitless hour attempting to Google it the next day. But as I researched more, spoke to more people and as I finally spoke to the man himself, the scale of the hype around this restaurant and its extraordinary young chef became clear.

Dabbous opened its doors in 2012 and 2 weeks after opening was awarded an almost unprecedented 5 stars by food critic Fay Maschler. Ollie Dabbous speaks of how everything changed at that point. The phone started ringing and it really has never stopped. A small restaurant, its tables became fully booked for months on end; indeed, when I tried to book last October 2012 I was told that it was fully booked for a weekday lunch for 2…until March. Critic after critic tried him, feeling out for chinks in the armour and leaving behind pieces bandying phrases such as ‘the best thing I have ever eaten’ (Giles Coren). Agreement was universal; Dabbous was a ‘game changer’ (Fay Maschler) and this hype was awarded with a star, just 8 months after opening.

Ollie Dabbous was born in Kuwait, but grew up in England. On interviewing him, I expected some touching childhood story of encounters with raspberries spawning a passion for food. But no; unlike some chefs, he told me there wasn’t really a defining ‘food moment’ in his childhood that turned him towards the kitchen. Nor was it greed. It seems he really did just fall into it. He gained experience in some fabulous kitchens – Guy Savoy’s 3 star in Paris and, most significantly, Le Manoir of Raymond Blanc. Raymond mentored him and has backed him ever since, including at Dabbous. He was head chef of London’s Texture of a while and then branched out alone into Dabbous.

The menu changes frequently to reflect the best of each season. Ollie Dabbous’ style? Simplicity, starkness of flavour, nature. I asked him the standard question I always ask chefs, ‘What ingredient lies at your core, what couldn’t you live without?’. Every chef I have interview before now has replied ‘salt’. Ollie? ‘A peach, a perfectly ripe peach’. And for me, this reply encapsulates his style and cookery perfectly – an appreciation, nay a celebration, of nature.