The restaurant scene has never been bigger.
Chefs are now A-list stars, industry turnover reached £21.6 bn last year, and they’re taking over Hollywood too.
This month sees the release of Burnt (out 16 October) starring Bradley Cooper, Jamie Dornan, Lily James and Sienna Miller (pictured top right) as super chefs who get together to create the ultimate restaurant.
Inspired by the idea, we enlisted ELLE’s in-house foodies Laura and Alice to devise their fantasy restaurant.
DREAM TEAM
London florists Grace and Thorn would provide amazing wild flower arrangements. Then for drinks, enter modern-day Willy Wonkas Bompas & Parr. They’ve created everything from glow-in- the-dark ice cream to a life-size crazy golf course made of cake, but their vapourised gin and tonic, which you inhale as you pass through a mist, would become our signature.
We’re all about bold flavours, seasonal cooking and not too much fuss, and we found our foodie kindred spirits at The Hidden Hut on the Roseland Peninsula, Cornwall – it’s magical. By day, founders Simon Stallard and Jemma Glass serve simple seaside fare, then at night the hut hosts fabulous open-air feasts on the beach – rustic, bring- your-own-plate affairs, showcasing lobster, wood-fired seafood paella and grilled mackerel. For dessert we’d get together the two best bakers on the block–LilyVanilli andViolet Cakes.This winning combination would make it very hard to not save space for dessert.
STYLE
Think Wes Anderson meets Sofia Coppola. Utility in Brighton is perfect for this look, an Aladdin’s cave of old- school kitchenware. We’d hire India Mahdavi to do the interiors – she worked her magic on the Paris restaurant Germain and London’s Sketch – and guests would eat from plates crafted by pottery specialists Suite One Studios. Margate fragrance brand Haeckels would make us a unique scent.
MENU
As we’re both stationery fiends, the guys at Hato Press would produce our paper menus – they publish gorgeous books and, as food fans, they get how important a little list of dishes can be.
SOCIAL
@symmetrybreakfast would do our social media.
MENU
As we’re both stationery fiends, the guys at Hato Press would produce our paper menus – they publish gorgeous books and, as food fans, they get how important a little list of dishes can be.
Pineapple weed: You can forage this hardy stuff in rocky areas (such as gravel and pavement cracks) and it tastes like a cross between pineapple and chamomile. We turn it into cordial.
Deep-fried courgette flowers: We grow these in the J&L garden and they are so moreish.
Watercess mayo: Condiments are key to any meal and this is simple and seasonal. Granita: Flavoured, crushed ice. The perfect palate- cleansing finish to a bold meal.
Listings: bompasandparr.com, germainparis.com, graceandthorn.com, haeckels.co.uk, hatopress.net, hiddenhut.co.uk, india-mahdavi.com, lilyvanilli.com, sketch.london, suiteonestudio.com, symmetrybreakfast.com, utilitygreatbritain.co.uk, violetcakes.com
