Berber & Q Chef Josh Katz Shares His Favourite Casual Spots in London

[Ramael] Scully is a good friend of mine. He’s just a genius. He has a culinary mind like none that I’ve ever encountered in anybody else. He thinks 24/7 about food and what crazy things he can do. He comes up with stuff and I’m like, “how do you know to do that?”. He’s obviously an avid reader and he spends his whole life educating himself, watching YouTube videos of these crazy techniques that he then employs in the restaurant. Like he’ll put horseradish in a vacpack and then put it in the oven on steam setting for thirteen days. It turns out if you do that to horseradish it caramelises deep golden and becomes incredibly sweet and nutty and he makes this caramelised horseradish purée. What happens if it doesn’t work out after 13 days? Who has the time? From a commercial point of view, I want to say to him ‘Scully, you’ve got to tone down some of these processes, the labour on them!’

What that translate to in terms of his food is this really crazy combination of flavours from all over the world. He was the executive chef at [Yotam Ottolenghi’s] Nopi when I was a more junior chef at Ottolenghi, so he has these Middle Eastern flavours, but he’s of Malaysian background and born and raised in Australia which is a melting pot, so you just get a bit of everything going into his food.

His restaurant is the perfect place to go if you just want to be amazed, if you’re a real foodie. It’s not ‘white tablecloth’ but the same attention to detail that goes into fine-dining cuisine goes into the cooking and the processes but without any of that stuffiness or formality.”

“Primeur and Westerns Laundry both belong to the same group [David Gingell and Jérémie Cometto-Lingenheim’s restaurant group, also including Jolene, Big Jo and Fitzroy in Cornwall]. Primeur is more French, Westerns Laundry more Spanish. Primeur is exactly in the middle of my restaurants and where I live, and probably a 15-minute drive from any of my restaurants, less from Berber & Q. I had lamb with an anchovy sauce there that was so good I searched high and low as to how they made the anchovy sauce. I think I found it randomly in a video by Adam Byatt from Trinity. I’ve had good onglet there, too. At Westerns Laundry, seafood fideo is a bit of a signature dish which is amazing. I also like going to places that take their wine seriously as I know the chances of me having a nice bottle or glass are going to be higher. I should have more wine knowledge to be honest but I don’t have the memory span. My business partner takes care of that side and will tell me to drink this instead of that.

There’s a recurring theme to the places I like. They do brilliant food but don’t feel overly pretentious or stuffy. You get the right level of attentiveness without the service feeling intrusive. They have an informal elegance. I feel like I can go there wearing whatever attire I want to wear. They make me feel luxuriated, like I’m living life to the fullest. I organised a meal there for my mum’s 70th birthday. Whenever there’s a special occasion, Primeur’s a place that springs to mind.”

“I went to the Baring in Islington because I’d read all the reviews and it delivered. It was outstanding. We went on a cold winter day, and they had a nice roaring fire. It’s a beautiful dining room. I walked in and just felt cosy and comfortable from the off. The attention to detail and the care that has gone into it; you can tell from the moment you walk through the door. I thought the food was pretty perfect to be honest. I had grilled leeks with romesco and stracciatella with braised greens, and chicken which I don’t often order, also incredible. It was exceptionally executed. It’s a little bit punchy pricewise but I know the cost of running restaurants and how difficult it is to serve food at that level. Everything is sourced brilliantly. The bread was amazing. I’m pretty sure they’re not making it in-house but wherever they’re getting it from, it’s amazing.” [We’ve checked, and it is in fact baked in house]

“Brawn is close to restaurant perfection. The ambience, the lighting, the food, the service…it all comes together in the dining room and it’s somewhere people just feel comfortable. That’s really what we aspire to, though obviously we make a different cuisine.

Brawn has this ingrained personality and soul that comes directly from the owner than rather than an expensive designer. I can feel that when I go to Brawn. I don’t know Ed personally but he was sous chef at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe; he left just after I started as a commis chef. Dave Gingell from Primeur and Westerns Laundry, who is a friend of mine, I do want to caveat, worked under Ed at Galvin Bistrot de Luxe. We’re all kind of linked in some way.

The food is always exceptional; it’s simple but it’s perfect. I had a brilliant pasta dish recently, cavatelli with ragù, and a very simple bowl of clams with white wine which was perfection. I can’t think of many places I’d rather spend an evening drinking some wine and having some nice plates of food. It’s just spot on. I’ve also been to Sargasso [in Margate] which was brilliant. I went there for my birthday and it was exceptional for many of the same reasons.”

“Phoenix Palace is a classic Chinese restaurant I’ll go to once or twice a month for dim sum. We go as a big family. The ordering process is a bit of a nightmare because everyone’s got their requirements. There will be char siu bao, spring onion pancakes, turnip cake, eel or prawn cheung fun, lobster dumplings, xiao long bao…there will be a pork and aubergine hot pot for a main course.

Our order’s normally exactly the same. But I recently had lunch with Geoff Leong of Leong’s Legend – he’s a regular at one of our restaurants – he invited Mattia and I to Dumplings Legend on Gerrard Street and he did the ordering and he ordered me stuff that I’d never normally order and it was so delicious, it opened my eyes. I was saying to my mum we should order something different rather than the same every time.”

“Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda’s pasta bar Padella in Borough opened the same year that we opened Berber & Q, and we both kept getting nominated a load of these different awards and we would always come second to Padella!

I love Padella and it set off the craze for fresh pasta that so many have tried to emulate. The ‘nduja and mascarpone fettuccine is amazing. I always have the beef shin ragù. I used to have it at Trullo and they’ve kept it on at Padella. They also do a pretty amazing cacio e pepe. I’ll go to Padella in Shoreditch with Mattia or have a business lunch there, and I’ve been with friends in the evening. Trullo is a fantastic restaurant too, a beautiful dining room, a bit more formal, with a lovely ambience, delicious food. It’s a place I respect and admire a lot. I’ve had a really good quail dish there and a whole mackerel that was delicious.”

“Noci in Islington is between Shawarma Bar and Berber & Q so on the drive between the two, I’ll sometimes stop off and get a bowl of pasta at Noci. I had the most exceptional bowl of pasta, an open ravioli of pulled lamb shoulder with an emulsified butter sauce; it blew my mind how good it was. I’ll go back just for that.”