Luke Selby and brothers to launch chefs' counter at Evelyn's Table this month
National Chef of the Year 2018 and Roux Scholar 2017 Luke Selby will take the helm at 10-seat chef's counter Evelyn's Table in Soho from 27 October, with brothers Nat and Theo by his side.
The restaurant, which sits in the beer cellar of the Blue Posts, will serve a five-course menu focused on British ingredients and using French and Japanese techniques. It will offer two sittings at 6pm and 8pm from Tuesday to Saturday.
Luke was head chef of Ollie Dabbous' Hide Above when it was awarded a Michelin star in 2018. He had previously worked at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. As part of his prize for winning the Roux Scholarship he completed a three-month stage at for three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Nihonryori Ryugin in Tokyo.
He said: "At Evelyn's Table I hope to be able to show not only what I have learned from my formative training but also the ethos and essence of Japanese and French cooking. Whether that be through the Japanese technique of infusion to create a clarity of flavours or the super classic skill of reduction to concentrate flavours as in French cookery.
"My time in Japan at Restaurant Nihonryori Ryugin had a particular impact on me – I was captivated by the care and approach to food and nature the Japanese have, the respect for ingredients. I intend to translate this attitude at Evelyn's Table by working with and championing British produce.
"This is something we can do very uniquely at Evelyn's now it is just me and my brothers in the kitchen. We can create a personal experience for our guests and work with small British suppliers that are specialists in what they do – such as line-caught mackerel from the dayboats of Devon, venison from Aynhone Park Estate and even elements that we have foraged ourselves from trips to Yorkshire and West Sussex."
Dishes from the £55 opening menu include marinated mackerel, plum umeboshi and shisho; squid noodles and mushroom dashi; venison, chestnut and sansho; and a dessert of tarte tatin, clotted cream and miso. The menu will change monthly.
Honey Spencer will run an accompanying wine bar the Mulwray, serving an array of fine and natural wines.
The restaurant space is owned by the Palomar Group, which is behind the Soho restaurant of the same name as well as the Barbary, Jacob the Angel and the Mulwray.
