A little place I know: where London's top chefs shop on their days off

They spend their days in the kitchens of the city’s most feted restaurants, with access to the best ingredients around. But where do London’s chefs shop when cooking for themselves? Dipal Acharya finds out 
Amandine Chaignot at La Fromagerie
Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Dipal Acharya21 April 2016

La Fromagerie

Chosen by Amandine Chaignot of Rosewood London

No meal is complete without a killer cheeseboard — or so says Amandine Chaignot, executive chef at Rosewood London. To source hers, she raids the reclaimed timber shelves of La Fromagerie in Marylebone. At the top of her shopping list? Smooth, nutty Morbier, which she pairs with toasted sourdough. ‘I’m not into crackers,’ laughs the 36-year-old.

La Fromagerie's preserves collection Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

She’s not the store’s only famous fan — both Angela Hartnett and Jamie Oliver are regulars. Come Christmas, the queues have been known to snake down the street as wait anxiously to collect their last-minute orders of Stiltons and camemberts.

But Chaignot doesn’t just visit for its fromage and dishy affineurs (that’s a cheese sommelier, FYI). The shop stocks everything you need for a dinner party: preserves, chutney, fine wine, even tablecloths. ‘It’s put together with great taste,’ says Chaignot. Her favourite time to stop by is at weekends, following an afternoon at Marylebone Farmers’ Market.

Wine at La Fromagerie Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

After spending all day in the Rosewood kitchen, Chaignot sticks to ‘simple soups and salads’ at home — followed by a chunk of Morbier, of course.

Rosewood London, 252 High Holborn, WC1 (rosewoodhotels.com)

La Fromagerie, 2-6 Moxon Street, W1 (lafromagerie.co.uk)

The Dusty Knuckle

Chosen by Elizabeth Allen of Pidgin

Elizabeth Allen outside the Dusty Knuckle Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

At first glance, The Dusty Knuckle looks like a nondescript shipping container marooned in a Hackney car park. Venture inside, however, and you’ll find one of London’s must-visit bakeries, whose sticky buns and specialist loaves have a cult following among London’s gluten-loving gastronomes.

Chef Elizabeth Allen, 27, has been a fan since she discovered it during her days as head chef at Smokehouse in Islington. Now she serves their loaves at Pidgin, her Asian fusion restaurant in Hackney Central, alongside a side of house-churned brown butter. For Allen, having a good loaf on the table is a vital part of any dinner: ‘It’s the ultimate comfort food.’ Her favourite? The potato sourdough: ‘It’s moist and lovely.’

Making the bakery’s specialist loaves Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

But The Dusty Knuckle doesn’t just give good bread — it also gives back to the local community. Founders Max Tobias, a 32-year-old former London youth worker, and ex-Moro chef Rebecca Oliver, also 32, work with youth rehabilitation programmes in the area to offer local youngsters baking lessons. They also run weekend workshops for enthusiastic amateurs, costing £135, where you can master everything from rye to soda bread. Don’t fancy all that kneading? Catch staff selling sumptuously filled focaccias at farmers’ markets across London.

Pidgin, 52 Wilton Way, E8 (pidginlondon.com)

The Dusty Knuckle, Abbott Street, E8 (thedustyknuckle.com)

Yasar Halim

Chosen by Selin Kiazim of Oklava

Selin Kiazim at Yasar Halim fruit and veg emporium, which also sells pastries, meat and a vast selection of olives Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Olives at Yasar Helim Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

If 2015 was the year of the posh kebab, now it’s all about grown-up Turkish. Leading the charge is Selin Kiazim, 29, the chef behind Oklava. Since opening last autumn, the Shoreditch hotspot has rapidly won a reputation for its original take on the region’s cuisine (signature dish: a knockout spicy lamb kofta with sour cherry dressing) as well as its buzzy atmosphere (not for nothing does ES columnist Grace Dent call it ‘one of London’s best nights out’). Key to the restaurant’s success, says Kiazim, is the relationship she’s built with Yasar Halim fruit and veg emporium on Green Lanes, a local institution since it was opened in 1981 by Mr Halim, a Turkish Cypriot immigrant. Growing up, Kiazim would visit with her mother. Now she shops for inspiration as well as ingredients: ‘The smells make me think of the kitchen at home.’

Pastries at Yasar Halim Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

The ruby-red tomatoes and stacks of spices out front might invoke the sense of walking through an urban souk but the real excitement is out back, where pastry chefs and bakers produce the shop’s own varieties of delicious flatbreads and baklava. ‘That’s a very Turkish thing,’ explains Kiazim. ‘You go grocery shopping for the week and end up grabbing lunch there too.’

Oklava, 74 Luke Street, EC2 (oklava.co.uk)

Yasar Halim, 493 Green Lanes, N4 (yasarhalim.com)

The Butchery

Chosen by Shuko Oda of Koya Bar

Shuko Oda visits The Butchery at least twice a week Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Forest Hill’s star is on the rise, thanks to a crop of new indie shops and bijou restaurants. At the heart of the area’s regeneration is The Butchery, run by Aussie couple Nathan Mills, an ex-Ginger Pig butcher, and Ruth Siwinski. Their most loyal customer? Shuko Oda, head chef at Koya Bar in Soho. ‘I go two or three times a week for everything from bacon for breakfast to perfectly mature cuts of beef for dinner. They buy their beef as a whole carcass and mature it themselves in a warehouse in Bermondsey. The attention to detail and the care put into each animal is incredible. Respect for meat is their founding principle.’

Owner Nathan Mills Louise Haywood-Schiefer
Louise Haywood-Schiefer

Originally a pop-up, The Butchery opened a permanent site in South London in 2013, as part of a drive spearheaded by Mary Portas for local businesses to take up derelict spaces in the area. It was an immediate success, partly thanks to a cameo on Raymond Blanc’s How to Cook Well series, while the ‘free-range, pasture-fed, dry-aged’ cuts tapped into the modern mentality of eating less, but higher quality, meat.

Oda has been on maternity leave from Koya Bar following the birth of her three-month-old daughter Kotoko, so she is using the time to experiment with The Butchery’s meats, trying out new udon toppings for her restaurant. Koya has long been an Instagrammers delight, thanks to its beautiful pickled plum dishes and superlative mushroom miso — but with a new range of toppings in its arsenal, be prepared to sharpen those elbows to score a seat when Oda returns to the kitchen.

Koya Bar, 50 Frith Street, W1 (koyabar.co.uk)

The Butchery, 49 London Road, SE23 (thebutcheryltd.com)

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