Social Magazine

soci lmagazine 

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Think Tank 

Great Chefs and 

Industry Insiders 

Jetsetter 

Irha Atherton’s 

Travel Diary 

From Grape 

to Grain 

What to Drink Next

social magazine 

What am I trying to 

achieve? I am always 

asked that question. 

In its simplest form, 

the answer is: to leave a 

legacy that teaches the 

next generation of chefs and 

restaurateurs how to run a 

good and ethical company that offers 

great food, great service, and innovative 

products. But it isn’t that easy. 

The energy that goes into the dayto-day 

life of The Social Company 

is staggering. We operate 24 hours 

a day, every day, on five different 

continents. It’s a huge commitment to 

keep all those plates spinning to the 

standard at which we want to spin them 

without letting any fall. It comes down 

to choosing the right staff members, 

making sure our supply chain is topnotch, 

and perfecting everything 

from menus to the right wine lists and 

cocktail programs. 

In the following pages, you will read 

stories about the tenacity of my staff, 

the incredible purveyors who support 

us, and the issues that affect our 

industry right now. The idea is to create 

a platform where diners, fellow chefs, 

and our own workforce can come 

together to take part in a conversation 

about this fascinating industry—and 

what it takes to create memorable 

experiences for everyone involved. 

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stainless steel / diameter 41.50 mm. www.arnoldandson.com 

4 

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17 

Social Wine and Tapas: 

Small-plate conversations 

Sosharu: A relationship grown 

from ingredients 

Berners Tavern: On the front 

burner with Chef Carmichael 

On The Chef Shortage 

by Jason Atherton 

18 

19 

20 

22 

The Restaurant Act 

by Adam Hyman 

The Creative Process 

with Sat Bains 

Fostering Talent 

with Daniel Humm 

Uncorked with 

Executive Head Sommelier 

Laure Patry 

26 

29 

34 

Discovering Cebu 

with Irha Atherton 

Behind the Bar 

with Jamie Jones 

Social News 

Social magazine • 2016 

3

SMALL PLATES 

Small Plates, 

Big Ideas 

at Social Wine & Tapas 

While the small-plate revolution continues to make the rounds in London, 

Social Wine & Tapas pushes the envelope on tapas-style food with 

collaborative dinners and endless options for wine pairings. Ever prepared, 

Head Chef Frankie Van Loo is fired up for small-plate domination. 

CChef Frankie 

Van Loo started 

with The Social 

Company in 2011 

at Pollen Street Social. Like many who 

end up in the Jason Atherton camp, his 

appetite to cook was fuelled by a desire 

to work for the best. ‘I was in Australia at 

the time, and I knew when I came back 

to London that I was going to work for 

Jason.’ Van Loo applied for a position 

at Pollen Street with a plan ‘to make it 

happen’, and it did. After a couple of 

years there, followed by a few more at 

Social Eating House, Jason presented 

Van Loo with an opportunity to run the 

kitchen at a brand-new concept. 

‘Social Wine & Tapas was born out of 

a need to find a style of food to pair 

with the wines our Executive Head 

Sommelier Laure Patry wanted to 

feature.’ The original idea was a wine 

shop, but the space they found begged 

for more. ‘Tapas lends itself easily to 

showcasing the wines; it allows people 

to mix and match small plates with 

several wine options, which was optimal 

for this situation.’ 

In true Atherton fashion, the plan 

was the best of both worlds: Spanish 

influences with the best of British 

ingredients. Trips were made—nothing 

as extensive as Atherton’s own time 

spent at elBulli during his formative 

years—but Van Loo got the picture: 

‘Tapas is different in each of the regions 

in Spain. We didn’t want to do a carbon 

copy of it. We didn’t try to set out to be 

a traditional Spanish tapas bar.’ Instead, 

they went about picking the best 

elements from each city and putting 

their own twist on them. 

The charcuterie comes from Spain, along 

with the spices and aromatics. The meat, 

fish, and cheese are British. Some of the 

dishes are traditionally Spanish—take 

the Padrón peppers, ham croquettes, 

or crema catalana dessert—others are a 

decided mix of styles. Even a bit of an 

Asian influence, prevalent in Atherton’s 

other places, slides in by virtue of an 

ingredient here and there. This blending 

of cuisines adds to the informality of the 

menu, where the conversation about 

food and wine can start just about 

anywhere. ‘The original vision was to 

have a laid-back place where you could 

come by any time of the day to enjoy a 

quick snack and glass of wine, or more 

if you wanted it. It’s about giving people 

that freedom to eat what they want. 

If you opt out of a three-course meal, 

three glasses of wine and a charcuterie 

board is just as acceptable.’ 


5

SMALL PLATES 

SMALL PLATES 

Dishes go in and out of the kitchen at a 

fast clip, similar to a pintxos bar in San 

Sebastian. Van Loo explains that 80 percent 

of each dish is ready to go in the mise 

en place, leaving only a few cooking 

operations necessary to finish it. Take a 

sea bream—the actual cooking of the fish 

takes only three to four minutes to execute, 

with the garnish, a fennel salad, and saffron 

aioli prepared beforehand. With this sort 

of speed, guests can feel at ease ordering 

what they want, when they want, without 

the pressure of a normal service. 


For a place of 

small plates, there 

is no compromise 

and no shortcuts, 

when it comes to 

ingredients or 

presentation. 

The majority of the food is cooked on 

either a plancha—a flat iron grill—or a 

josper, which combines a grill and an oven 

in a single machine. With a warehouse 

located outside of Barcelona, The Social 

Company chefs had a chance to learn its 

full potential right at the source. ‘We went 

from just cooking steaks in them to a whole 

range of items that in turn add a new 

flavour profile to a dish.’ 

The menu follows the seasons. Garnishes 

change even when proteins stay the 

same. For a place of small plates, there is 

no compromise and no shortcuts, when 

it comes to ingredients or presentation. 

Guests might seek out an informal dining 

experience, but it still comes wrapped in 

a red bow. They relax, chat, enjoy a glass 

of wine, and graze on plate after plate of 

well-orchestrated food that come out in 

staggered intervals. It seems to be the way 

of the world these days. ‘There is definitely 

a shift in dining. In general, people want 

something a little healthier, a little lighter,’ 

adds Van Loo, highlighting a section of the 

menu dedicated to only vegetables. 

Indeed, Social Wine & Tapas is the first 

to point out that they don’t corner the 

market in tapas, but instead are in very 

good company. There’s The Salt Yard 

Group, where the influence on small dishes 

is a mix of Italian and Spanish; Barrafina, 

that is more traditionally Spanish; and the 

Palomar, with Middle Eastern flavours, 

among others. Those three in particular 

have been part of collaborative dinners 

at Social Wine & Tapas, where sharing 

styles have merged on one menu. Wildly 

successful and a lot of fun to orchestrate, 

Van Loo plans on many more. 

Call it part of the Social Wine & Tapas 

tapestry: weaving accessible food and 

amazing experiences together to bring 

people to the table, whatever the occasion. 

Small plates perhaps, but celebrating big 

changes in the way we approach food. 

CHARGRILLED CARROTS, 

BURNT AUBERGINE & MISO, 

WALNUT PESTO 

Serves 4 

Burnt Aubergine and Miso 

2 aubergines 

1 shallot, finely sliced 

3 garlic cloves, crushed 

25g white miso paste 

Prick the aubergines with a fork and roast in a hot oven, 

turning regularly until the skin has charred. Remove from 

the oven and place into a bowl covered with cling film. 

Leave to cool. 

Sweat the shallots and garlic in a pan for 5 minutes before 

adding the miso paste and cooking for a further 2 minutes. 

Cut open the aubergines and scrape out the flesh, 

discarding the skins. Add the aubergine flesh to the pan 

and cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Blend 

the mixture to a smooth purée, check the seasoning, and 

adjust if necessary. 

Walnut Pesto 

100g flat-leaf parsley, picked and washed 

2 garlic cloves, crushed 

25g walnuts, roasted 

Extra-virgin olive oil 

Place all ingredients into a blender and blitz coarsely, 

adding a little extra-virgin olive oil to bind the mix together. 

Carrots 

10–12 carrots with tops, medium-size, 12–15cm in length 

25g butter 

Remove the carrot tops and set aside. Blanch the carrots 

in boiling water until just cooked (they should retain their 

bite). Heat the butter in a pan until foaming, add the 

carrots, and roast until evenly caramelised. 

to serve 

Add a couple of spoonfuls of the aubergine and miso purée 

onto each plate, arrange 2 to 3 carrots on top, drizzle with 

the walnut pesto, and garnish with the carrot tops. 

SALT-BAKED BEETROOT, RICOTTA, 

PINE NUT & RED WINE DRESSING 

Serves 4 

150g each of golden and candy baby beetroot 

100g rock salt 

6 sprigs thyme 

4 cloves garlic 

200g large red beetroot 

1 bay leaf 

200g Sairass sheep’s milk ricotta or soft goat cheese 

Salt and cracked black pepper to taste 

150ml red wine 

25ml cabernet sauvignon vinegar 

100ml olive oil 

75g pine nuts, toasted 

Handful of salad leaves 

Preheat oven to 160°C. Wash the baby beetroots and 

thinly slice 2 of each colour on a Japanese mandolin. 

Place into ice-cold water for 5 minutes. 

Place the rest of the baby beetroots on a bed of rock salt 

with 4 sprigs of thyme and 2 garlic cloves. Bake in the oven 

at 160°C for 25 to 30 minutes. When ready, the beetroots 

should pierce with a little resistance. Leave them to cool 

slightly, then peel off the skins. Cut into different sizes— 

some in half, some in quarters, and others whole. 

For the purée, peel and quarter the red beetroot and cover 

with water in a pan. Add 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 garlic cloves, 

and a bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 45 minutes, 

drain, and then blend to a smooth purée. 

Whip the Sairass or goat’s cheese until soft, and season 

with salt and cracked pepper. 

To make the red wine dressing, first reduce the red wine 

to 50ml by heating it in a pan. Take 1 tbsp of the beetroot 

purée and whisk in the reduced red wine. Add cabernet 

sauvignon vinegar before slowly adding in the olive oil. 

to serve 

Place a few spoonfuls of the whipped cheese on the plate, 

followed by a mixture of the cooked and sliced beetroot. 

Scatter over the pine nuts, drizzle with the dressing, and 

finish with a few salad leaves. 


6 

7

SMALL PLATES Sosharu 

Her Story 

Mash 

Purveyors 

and 

Sosharu 

A Perfect Marriage of 

Ingredients and Technique 

Alexandru Craciun & 

Aleksandra Jazevica 

Fiercely independent, self-starter 

Aleksandra Jazevica worked her way up to 

a sales position after eight years in the fruit 

and vegetable market. She affectionately 

refers to herself as the ‘greengrocer lady 

who fell for a chef’. With a strong Latvian 

accent, she expresses her appreciation 

for the opportunities Mash Purveyors has 

afforded her. She’s not selling anything, but 

she peddles passion. 

And there’s plenty of that in the air as 

Aleksandra sits at the counter at Kisetsu, 

the jewel box within Sosharu that offers a 

kappo style tasting menu to just 10 guests 

each evening. Craciun, her boyfriend and 

executive head chef, busies himself in 

the small but functional kitchen space, 

even as her gaze locks on him. He lets the 

tiniest smile escape, clearly affected, as he 

examines a piece of burdock, a Japanese 

type of ginger. Kisetsu has been open 

for only a few days, so he has a right to 

have plenty on his mind. Sourcing the 

best ingredients is luckily the least of his 

worries—Jazevica has that covered. Even 

so, his menu that evening is at the mercy 

of what he receives into his kitchen that 

day, and sometimes that’s only 30 minutes 

before service starts. 


When Mash Purveyors sales rep 

Aleksandra Jazevica went to 

Japan to visit her new boyfriend 

and chef, Alexandru Craciun, 

she fell in love with a whole 

new world of vegetables. Today, 

Japanese products are a big part 

of what Mash Purveyors is able 

to offer London restaurants, and 

Sosharu benefits greatly from this 

unique relationship. 

Aleksandra senses his need to concentrate 

and shifts back to the way Mash handles all 

the details. Don’t be fooled: She’s not your 

typical produce rep. She has a keen eye for 

detail and presents a level of service that 

illustrates her complete understanding of a 

chef’s needs. She explains how important 

it is to go and eat in the restaurants she 

works with: ‘That is the only way you can 

understand where you can help them, 

which garnishes to recommend, what 

products they should switch out. Are the 

tomatoes they use good enough, or can I 

get them something better?’ 

If it’s a new relationship with a restaurant 

that is just opening, she asks for a menu 

and puts together a sample box of her 

choosing—from leaves to edible flowers. 

‘From that, they can pick what they need.’ 

Going the extra mile is part of Aleksandra’s 

DNA. Most chefs place an order after their 

service is done, and the delivery hits their 

kitchen the following day. Sometimes they 

need a top up and might order again in the 

morning. ‘If a chef is under pressure during 

an opening or event and forgets something, 

we will always help them out,’ she adds, 

happy to jump in her car and courier over a 

delivery that has just arrived dockside. ‘It’s 

our job to make sure that happens.’ 


8 

9

Sosharu 

SMALL PLATES Sosharu 

Local and Proud of It 

Japanese Ingredients 


Mash brings in products from all over 

the world: Europe, Africa, and now 

Japan. ‘Japan closes that gap and 

offers our chefs something completely 

different,’ she explains. And if it wasn’t 

for Craciun, she would never have 

suggested bringing that country’s 

offerings into the fold. 

His Story 

Alexandru Craciun started helping out 

in kitchens in Romania and moved 

to Newcastle 10 years ago. Despite 

language barriers, his skills progressed, 

and he was soon in charge of his own 

kitchen. Never one to rest on his laurels, 

he continued to push himself: ‘Being in 

a new country was very motivating. I 

wanted to work harder.’ Introduced to 

Japanese flavours at Maze, Alexandru 

was hooked, fascinated by how clean 

and different they were. ‘I had never 

known anything like this growing up 

in Eastern Europe,” he explains. “Hot 

sauce; mirin; rich, umami-flavoured 

broths—this was all new, and it touched 

me very deeply.’ 

He went to Japan several times to ‘stage’ 

and worked with the likes of esteemed 

three-Michelin-starred Chef Yoshihiro 

Murata, one of Japan’s most respected 

traditional-style chefs. There he learned 

how to respect the product and the 

culture—sometimes learning the hard 

way. At the famous RyuGin, he turned 

up several mornings in a row and stood 

outside the door before finally being 

allowed into the kitchen. ‘They made 

me shave my beard and arms,’ he sighs. 

But now he is running the kitchen at 

undoubtedly one of London’s most 

compelling restaurants. ‘Everything 

is taste, taste, taste’, he offers when 

asked how he marries Japanese and 

British ingredients to create the dishes 

served at Sosharu. ‘A citrus from Japan 

is different than a British one: different 

flavour, different smell. Taste everything.’ 

Big in Japan 

Before Craciun opened Sosharu, he 

searched for suppliers to bring in 

authentic Japanese produce, but it 

wasn’t so easy. It was the perfect 

opportunity for Mash to introduce 

a new line of products—and for 

Sosharu to get their hands on the 

right ingredients. Jazevica admits that 

cultural barriers are just that: ‘It’s really 

hard to connect with Japanese people. 

You have to push them to react. They 

don’t like change, and it’s challenging to 

get a quick response time.’ 

Jazevica flew over to see Craciun 

while he was ‘staging’ in Japan for 

three months, and he took her to the 

market. ‘It completely changed my life!’ 

she exclaims. ‘I just couldn’t believe 

the number of vegetables I had never 

encountered before, even while working 

in the business.’ Today, she considers 

it a bonus to sell these items to not 

only Japanese chefs in London but 

also European chefs. ‘It’s so exciting to 

show them something new, something 

completely different and unique that 

they have never seen before.’ 

While visiting Japanese farms, Jazevica 

was wowed by the produce—each piece 

perfectly formed and identical in look, 

size, and flavour. Then she walked out 

onto the soil and understood why. ‘It is 

so soft that you actually step down into 

it.’ She explains how Japanese growers 

work the land for at least two years 

prior to planting to kill all the insects. 

‘As a result, the soil is soft and full of 

moisture to the touch.’ 

While chemicals are used to treat the 

soil initially, nothing is sprayed once the 

ingredients are in the ground, so you 

can actually eat it unwashed. Perfect 

growing conditions with perfect results. 

Jazevica smiles wistfully: ‘We still have a 

lot to learn from the Japanese in terms 

of farming in England.’ 

Beyond the art of farming is the harvest. 

As each vegetable is taken from the 

ground, it is impeccably wrapped into 

neat bundles. The perfect leaves are 

packed right into wrappers and flown 

over to London. It’s super fresh, and 

that’s the way Mash likes to keep it. ‘The 

Japanese are very good at looking after 

their products, and so we instruct our 

staff to do the same.’ Mash get deliveries 

once a week from Japan, and delivery is 

about to increase to twice a week. 

As much as Mash Purveyors brings in 

speciality items from other countries, it’s 

very important to them that they support 

English growers. ‘We do believe that if 

produce is grown here, it will taste that 

much fresher—not to mention, it’s the 

right thing to promote British products,’ 

says Jazevica. Mash works with Secretts 

of Milford, a family-run farm they sit 

down with before each growing season 

to figure out specific growing needs. ‘It’s 

a solid relationship, and they appreciate 

that they get to see their produce in some 

of London’s best restaurants.’ Jazevica 

points out that Secretts’ corn on the cob, 

super fresh, is harvested in the afternoon 

and in Craciun’s kitchen the following 

morning. ‘The prawn and corn tempura he 

has on the menu is amazing because of 

the combination of the chef’s skill and the 

quality of the product.’ 

Scottish blaeberries, or wild blueberries, 

likewise make their mark on the menu 

because of their unique taste. ‘These 

small, extremely dark blueberries taste 

completely different from a regular 

blueberry, almost as if they contain a little 

bit of the forest inside them,’ Jazevica 

says, smiling. You won’t find them in 

Japanese restaurants, and that is what 

makes Sosharu so special. ‘It’s a unique 

product, available for a short season, that 

our foragers in the region specifically seek 

out. And not something you’re going to 

find in a local market either.’ 

In the Kitchen 

Respecting the ingredients starts in the 

ground and continues all the way to 

the plate. That’s the way Craciun was 

instructed, and it manifests itself on the 

satisfied faces of Sosharu’s diners—and 

now Kisetsu too. ‘People have accepted 

what we are doing here. They have 

accepted my palate,’ he says, deliberately. 

‘What you taste here is totally different. 

We are a different kind of Westernised 

Japanese restaurant.’ 

They are busy. And, yes, at the end of each 

evening on this opening week at Kisetsu, 

Craciun has been treated to a heartfelt 

round of applause by his mesmerised 

crowd. ‘Food is a very powerful weapon,’ 

he adds quietly. To which we add: His 

interaction with great ingredients is the 

catalyst for making this food so effective. 

Myoga 

A Japanese ginger used often at 

Sosharu. Not as spicy as conventional 

ginger, it has a nice, mild flavour. 

Beautiful to look at, with edible flower 

buds and flavourful shoots. Good for 

pickling and in salads. 

Japanese Cucumber 

Less water content and fewer seeds 

than a continental cucumber, this is 

one of Mash’s biggest sellers, not only 

with Japanese chefs but British ones 

too. Great for pickling. 

Burdock 

This slender, brown-skinned root is 

about a metre and a half long. 

Good for tempura. Like an English 

salsify, but more meaty in texture. 

Nashi 

An Asian pear with the 

crispness of an apple, along 

with the juiciness and taste 

of a pear. Available from late 

summer to November. 


10 

11

Berners Tavern 

On the Front Burner 

Executive Chef Phil Carmichael at Berners Tavern 

‘ 

Jason was willing to literally 

sacrifice everything to make 

that restaurant a success. 

It was incredible to witness 

that sort of drive in a boss— 

he was in the kitchen with us 

for 16 hours a day pushing 

himself, pushing us.’ 


There is no romantic back story about cooking with his grandmother as a 

small child, cautions Berners Tavern Executive Chef Phil Carmichael. ‘Sure, 

I had home-cooked meals’, says Carmichael. ‘But food was fuel growing 

up, nothing more.’ Instead, it was a job washing dishes that lead to bigger 

things in the kitchen—granted, well oiled by Carmichael’s own gumption, 

call it his cheeky manner even, when he saw the opportunity and seized it. 

Like many 

successful people 

whose interest in 

a craft outgrows 

their comfort zone, Phil Carmichael’s 

passion for cooking quickly transcended 

the tiny town of Cowbridge in the Vale 

of Glamorgan in Wales, where he grew 

up. He compartmentalises his career 

into two sections: the one in which he 

discovered a knack for cooking; and the 

other, when he started to do something 

about it. Moving to Amsterdam as a 

cook, for starters. 

Soon after, and quite by chance, he 

ended up working side by side with 

Chef Albert Roux on a couple of 

large private functions, including the 

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, 

where he summoned up the courage 

to nonchalantly ask the lauded chef for 

a job at Le Gavroche, Roux’s Michelinstarred 

restaurant in London. ‘He turned 

to me and said he would speak to his 

son. Three months later, I was working 

there, getting my head kicked in,’ 

Carmichael says with a laugh. 

Today, he sips on a latte and slips easily in 

and out of conversation about food and 

hospitality, unassuming and yet perfectly 

at home in undoubtedly one of London’s 

most beautiful dining rooms: Berners 

Tavern in The London EDITION hotel. 

It’s been a crazy ride since those early 

days with the Roux brothers, and 

certainly a testament to old-fashioned 

hard work. Meeting Jason Atherton for 

the opening of Maze was another eyeopening 

experience. ‘I had never worked 

with anyone who was so single-minded 

about what he wanted. Jason was 

willing to literally sacrifice everything to 

make that restaurant a success. It was 

incredible to witness that sort of drive in 

a boss—he was in the kitchen with us for 

16 hours a day pushing himself, pushing 

us. It was inspiring and has been like that 

ever since.’ 

They have been together now for over 

a decade, and Carmichael confirms that 

intensity is still alive and kicking: ‘Every 

time we do a project or open a new 

restaurant, Jason commits himself to it 

100 percent. When we get comfortable 

in a place, he tries to mix it up. Plus he 

delivers on everything he ever says he’s 

going to do for us. Who else would I 

want to go work for?’ 

Good point—plus at Berners Tavern, 

Carmichael runs the show. Cushy job? 

Hardly. With a team of over 40 to 

manage, which includes not only the 

restaurant needs but also banqueting 

and room service for the hotel, he 

wrestles with keeping them motivated 

and happy. ‘It’s a challenge, least of 

all because at any given time we are 

working with eight or nine nationalities 

from all over Europe.’ He concedes 

there is a stigma associated with ‘hotel 

restaurants’ that Berners Tavern has 

done its best to break down: ‘Some 

chefs get very snobby about working 

in hotels. However, we have been 

responsible for an upsurge in hotel 

restaurant dining.’ 

And then there’s the food. While Berners 

Tavern doesn’t aspire to Michelin levels— 

—executive chef Phil Carmichael 

‘It’s not what we set out to be here’— 

Carmichael doesn’t take what comes 

out of his kitchen lightly. ‘We do solid 

cooking, simple food that is ingredientdriven.’ 

And there’s its relationships 

with cream-of-the-crop purveyors that 

are largely responsible for those British 

flavours for which the restaurant has 

become known. Carmichael happily 

credits the Essex farm Dingley Dell 

with ‘the best pork I’ve ever eaten’, the 

Buccleuch Estates from Campbells up in 

Scotland for ‘their incredible beef’, and 

Flying Fish Seafoods from Cornwall with 

‘tasty, firm, fresh cod that is consistently 

phenomenal’. This allows him in turn to 

elevate the food and add a few more 

flourishes. ‘The food in the rooms and 

for events is just as important to me,’ he 

adds, seriously. ‘It has to be, because if 

it’s got my name on it, I’m responsible.’ 

Carmichael points out that he’s in a 

good place. He has a strong senior team 

in the kitchen that allows him and his 

head chef to spend time on developing 

dishes. ‘Every day presents a different 

challenge,’ he says. ‘We work hard, but 

we enjoy doing it. And we are all on the 

same page.’ That single-minded goal 

is to establish Berners Tavern as an 

iconic London restaurant, ‘long after I’m 

finished here, up there with The Ritz and 

The Wolseley. That alone motivates us to 

make sure we don’t just go through the 

motions and get complacent.’ 

The latte is long finished, and Carmichael 

is back in his kitchen, working on 

rounding out the second half of his 

career with the same fervour as when he 

started it. Food is still his fuel. 


12 

13



‘ 

We never set out to put signature dishes on the menu. 

But as it developed, there were some dishes that were 

so crazy popular, we couldn’t take them off—like this 

version of the ’70s classic prawn cocktail. We poach 

beautiful tiger prawns in a flavoured stock and serve it 

with our own spicy sauce that has avocado and lobster 

jelly on it. We sell 70 to 80 portions of that per day!’ 

—Executive Chef Phil Carmichael 


Getting to Know Chef Carmichael 

Favourite way to cook: Anything 

over a fire. I love to barbecue! 

Best place to grab a pint: Has to 

be at The Vale, my local pub in Wales. 

It’s about 300 years old and offers a 

great selection of real Welsh ales. 

Always in my pantry: You will find 

smoked paprika, BBQ spice rub, and 

oat cakes. 

My last vacation: A road trip 

from Dallas to New Orleans to sample 

barbecue. It was my honeymoon with 

my wife. 

Recommended 

reading: Grill 

Smoke BBQ by 

chef-director 

of the Salt Yard 

Group, Ben Tish. 

Coffee: A latté 

please! 

Preferred olive oil: Cold-pressed 

rapeseed oil. 

Eggs: Scrambled. 

Guilty pleasure snack: Biltong, 

South African jerky. 

Pet peeve in the kitchen: When 

cooks poke a hole through cling foil on a 

dish, instead of removing it, and then try 

to stretch it back over. Drives me crazy! 

Cook shop of choice: Divertimenti 

Knightsbridge. They have everything 

you could ever want as a home cook. It’s 

massive—Aladdin’s cave for a chef! 

227-229 Brompton Road 

London SW3 2EP 

0207 581 8065 

divertimenti.co.uk 

Go To market: It’s usually pretty 

packed, but Borough Market is 

still the best place to go to for a great 

selection of cheese, meats, and produce. 

And you can have a nice glass of wine 

while you’re down there! 

8 Southwark Street 

London SE1 1TL 

0207 407 1002 

boroughmarket.org.uk 

Up-and-coming culinary 

neighbourhood: Brixton Village. 

I never went there when I first moved to 

London, but now it has some amazing 

mom-and-pop food places. It’s always 

been a creative hub, but it’s more 

focused on the food scene right now. 

Especially since Pop Brixton opened… 

49 Brixton Station Road 

London SW9 8PQ 

popbrixton.org 

Casual dining spot: Heading back 

to Brixton for that—Mama lan, which 

is Beijing street food. When owner Ning 

Ma first opened, she was hand-making 

all the noodles with her daughter. Now 

they have three stores. Best dumplings 

in London, hands down! 

Brixton Village Market, 

Coldharbour Lane 

London SW9 8PR 

mamalan.co.uk 

Braised Chicory, Celery 

& Butternut Salad, Toasted 

Sunflower Seeds, Maple 

Vinaigrette 

Serves 4 

650ml orange poaching liquor 

4 heads chicory 

4 sticks celery 

½ butternut squash 

50ml maple vinaigrette 

150g sunflower seeds, toasted and chopped 

Maple Vinaigrette 

200ml maple syrup 

50g Dijon mustard 

50ml lemon juice 

50ml sherry vinegar 

100ml extra-virgin olive oil 

Place all ingredients into a jar and shake 

vigorously until emulsified. 

Orange Poaching Liquor 

400ml fresh orange juice 

150ml white wine 

100ml lemon juice 

40g sugar 

1 stick lemongrass 

2 star anise 

2 cloves 

30g grated fresh ginger 

Place all ingredients for the orange poaching 

liquor in a pan and bring up to a simmer. 

Simmer for 10 minutes and allow to cool. 

Strain out the solids. Place liquid into a clean 

pan and bring back to a simmer. 

Poach the chicory until tender, then remove 

and chill down. Repeat this with all the 

other vegetables. 

When chilled, slice vegetables into pieces 

and place onto individual plates or a sharing 

platter. Drizzle with the maple vinaigrette and 

scatter toasted, chopped seeds over the top. 


14 

15

Acknowledging 

The Chef Shortage 

by Jason Atherton 

Jason Atherton might run a tight 

ship, but he cares deeply for the 

people who make up the Social 

family. It’s a tough business, where 

the daily grind can be crushing and 

certainly not as attractive as food 

TV makes it out to be. A shortage of 

skilled chefs is a huge problem for 

Atherton. It’s hard to fill vacancies 

with good people—and even when 

you do, what’s to keep them there? 

Rather than belabour the point, he’s 

ready to be part of the solution. 

I 

t’s easy to complain about 

the current situation from 

both sides of the fence: 

as an owner and as an 

employee. Brexit doesn’t 

help and will likely leave us in a very 

difficult place as a hospitality industry. 

Of the immigrants who come in and out 

of London or the provinces, 65 to 70 

percent find work because restaurants 

are always understaffed. But if we dwell 

on the negatives, we’ll never get out of 

the weeds. 

For the past 50 years, the restaurant 

business notoriously has been a tough 

industry to work in: the hours have 

been bad, and the lifestyle, antisocial. 

And yet, for the last 25, London 

has steadily earned a reputation for 

hospitality, food, and services never 

offered before. Let’s keep it there and 

continue to push forward. 

We—my fellow chefs and I—have a duty 

to make this a better place to work: 

to continue to keep the hours down, 

the pay and benefits up, and take care 

of general staff welfare. Junior staff 

training doesn’t have to be so punishing. 

Furthermore, it’s not just about money. 

When I speak to most people, they ask 

what this job will offer them in terms of 

their career. We have to think long term. 

When people give me a commitment of 

their time and energy, I never take it for 

granted. In the end, I want each of my 

staff members to say to themselves that 

they made the right decision coming 

to work for me. Otherwise, it’s really 

heartbreaking. When they give me 

100 percent, I am happy to reciprocate 

with everything they need: the best 

kitchen, the best restaurant, partnerships 

even. And if they leave, which eventually 

people do, they remain part of my team. 

We will look after their careers from afar, 

helping them make the right connections 

and work for the best people. I am 

humbled to say I have learned this from 

such esteemed chefs as Thomas Keller 

and Daniel Humm. 

Taking another cue from America, who 

have very strong graduate programmes 

from places like the Culinary Institute 

of America, let’s improve our culinary 

school landscape. It needs government 

funding. It needs high-profile chef 

interactions to set the standards. What 

good is complaining about the quality of 

chefs coming out of the program? It only 

serves to demotivate the guys who put 

in all those hours. If it’s not at the level 

we expect, we need to change that. We 

need to get into the colleges and work 

with the lecturers to create a two-year 

plan that gives students a solid chance 

of survival in the world of restaurants 

and hotel dining. 

To that end, we are working with 

Westminster Kingsway College to 

come up with a set of Social Company 

qualifications. Training will take place 

not only in cooking but also in service, 

management, and entrepreneurship. 

There is so much more to our business 

than being in the kitchen—teaching 

kids how to be good business 

people; learning the financials of a 

restaurant; food costing, which leads 

to a conversation about food wastage. 

Learning to make ethical choices that 

are also smart, such as paying your 

suppliers early, so that you can go back 

to them, time and time again, for even 

better products and they will deliver. 

These were things I was never taught 

in school, but they’re an integral part 

of the skills you need to succeed today. 

With the right support, graduates will be 

ready to be taken on board. 

Yes, there’s a chef shortage. And it’s 

likely to get worse, but we have the 

tools to help those who want to be a 

part of our world now navigate it better. 

We have a responsibility to make our 

industry a better place for the next 

generation that comes through it. 


17

think tank 

think tank 


In what other industry 

do people come to your 

workplace to do such 

things as have a business 

meeting, celebrate a birthday or 

anniversary, meet friends, or even 

finalise a divorce? Surely only in the 

world of restaurants. 

I love restaurants. They really are 

a marvellous invention. In theory, 

the whole process should be a 

straightforward one: The customer 

arrives hungry. They order, they eat. 

They pay and leave. Simple. 

If only it was so. Joe Bastianich, who 

along with Mario Batali owns Babbo and 

Del Posto in New York, explains it rather 

well in his book, Restaurant Man. He 

tells the reader how the customer has 

already cost him money before they’ve 

even entered the restaurant—the linen, 

the printing of the menu, and so on. 

‘You have to appear to be generous, but 

you have to inherently be a cheap fuck 

to make it work,’ writes Bastianich. 

Opening a restaurant is not for the fainthearted. 

Most restaurants fail within the 

first two years. There are many reasons 

for this, but anyone looking to open their 

own place needs to first have a clearly 

defined ‘concept’. There may be a reason 

that nobody has done it yet—and do not 

make the ultimate restaurant error of 

trying to create a restaurant that caters 

to everyone. Just don’t. Do something 

that you want to do and something that 

you’d want to dine in. I mean, you’re 

going to be spending a lot of time in it. 

The thing I probably admire most when 

working with restaurateurs and chefs 

is their ability to hold their nerve when 

opening a restaurant. This certainly 

helps. ‘Location, location, location’ is an 

apt phrase. It can be make-or-break for 

a restaurant, and it’s vital to think about 

whether the restaurant you’re going 

to open will work in that particular 

neighbourhood or postcode. Something 

that thrives in Mayfair might not work in 

the same way it does in somewhere like 

Peckham or Clapton. 

I recently reached for the Le Caprice 

book for some research on an article I 

was writing, and I recall AA Gill’s words 

well. The Sunday Times restaurant 

critic thinks the words ‘atmosphere, 

atmosphere, atmosphere’ are far more 

relevant to the success of a restaurant. 

And he may well be right. We’ve all 

been to a restaurant that serves great 

food, but when somewhere lacks 

atmosphere, it can ruin a meal. 

The same can be said of hospitality. A 

great server or maître d’ is often the 

reason people return to a restaurant, 

which is why it’s so important for 

the back of house to have a good 

relationship with the front of house. 

It’s all about teamwork and highlights 

the importance of finding the best 

staff. Look no further than the way Will 

Guidara and Daniel Humm co-ordinate 

their restaurant Eleven Madison Park in 

New York. The kitchen is in tune with 

the servers. They are their eyes and 

ears—they’re key to how the kitchen 

Adam Hyman is founder of CODE 

Hospitality, a media and consultancy 

business. CODE Media runs the 

hospitality benefits platform CODE 

App as well as publishes The CODE 

Bulletin and CODE Quarterly. 

CODE Consultancy raises funds for 

restaurants and offers strategic advice. 

Learn more at codehospitality.co.uk. 

The Restaurant Act 

By Adam Hyman 

runs. Another common downfall is to 

try and do everything yourself. Those of 

us who are perfectionists all try, but we 

soon realise that this is neither doable 

nor wise. Always surround yourself with 

a great team and people who can do 

certain things better than you. 

Money is key. It’s never an easy subject 

to discuss, but owning a restaurant 

requires money. It can be done on a 

shoestring budget—often a wise move 

for your first site—or at great expense, 

like Park Chinois or Sexy Fish. But as 

well as finding the lump sum of cash 

needed to get the place open, so 

many people then become unstuck 

with working capital. In essence, not 

having enough money to keep the 

business running on a day-to-day 

basis. Take advice from people in the 

know: Get a good investor, and also a 

solid accountant. 

There’s no science to opening a 

restaurant. It’s an art. There’s no 

template to follow as such. Those 

that try to ‘do it by the book’ and 

follow trends end up with dated, 

soulless concepts. 

Many of the finest restaurateurs and 

chefs compare each service to a 

theatre performance: Staff may fluff 

lines and make errors, but hopefully 

the audience—the diners—won’t notice 

the small mistakes. The curtains will 

draw on another performance, and 

everyone leaves happy. Before doing it 

all over again. 

The Creative Process with Sat Bains 

Sat Bains is chef proprietor of the two-Michelin-starred 

Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms in Nottingham. 

Sometimes our subconscious takes over. Such as 

recently, when Chef Sat Bains conceptualized a dish 

for Jason Atherton’s Social Sunday charity dinner to 

benefit Hospitality Action. He composed his duck and 

vegetable dish, and it looked strangely familiar. Bains 

thought back to a recent trip to Barcelona, where he 

visited the Gaudi House Museum. 

Then it clicked: He had just arranged the dish as a replica 

of a piece of stained glass he saw there, right down to 

the placement and angles of ingredients on the plate. 

It was mind-blowing to Bains—but all things considered, 

it was just the product of his creative process. 

Ihave had a creative sense 

from an early age—a 

thought format that allows 

me to stray outside the 

box. I credit my interest in art, my first 

passion in school, which I still use as a 

tool when coming up with a new dish. 

A doodle will act as a template of what 

I am imagining on the plate. Beyond 

that, I think that learning the classics in 

culinary school was another incredible 

source of inspiration, especially 

since I never really had a mentor. I 

rediscovered recipes that were classical 

and strict, allowing myself the creative 

freedom to view them with fresh eyes. 

While I might not have had a mentor 

who could have shaped or likewise 

restricted that ability to discover, I did 

plenty of investigation, because I had to 

train myself as a chef. 

I read absolutely every book on the 

classics, all the great French chefs 

and the American ones coming 

through at the time, like the Kellers 

and the Bouluds. This allowed me free 

access to their knowledge through 

their repertoire, which was important 

because classics are rooted in solid 

techniques paired with seasonal 

produce. It is there that you get an 

understanding of why grouse is paired 

with blackberries—because they are 

in season around at the same time, 

hence they go together. From there, 

I then questioned certain flavour 

combinations. It is only when you have 

an acute understanding of a classical 

combination that you can you set about 

to rework it. 

It is that ability to have a free train of 

thought about an ingredient—to look 

at a lamb for what it is, for example— 

that I find so exciting. Rather than run 

through a catalogue of past dishes in 

my head, I want to look at an ingredient 

in its purest form and then address it 

differently in terms of what it goes with. 

It could be what is in season at that 

moment or what notes come to mind: 

grassy, salty, marshy, etc. These elements 

trigger different avenues to go down, 

rather than a traditional tried-and-tested 

one. It might still have that classical 

base, but it opens you up to an amazing 

array of styles and nuances. 

Take a cep mushroom. Draw a circle 

around it. In that circle are its elements, 

such as earthiness and aromatic 

woodiness. Now take a look at the 

lines, or profiles, that extend out of 

the center, like texture, temperature, 

acidity. If I want to do something acidic, 

it could be mushroom ketchup with 

soy to enhance the earthiness. If I want 

something fresh, I simply slice it raw 

and add some lemon juice and olive 

oil. Plus the characteristics change 

depending on the technique: roasted vs 

raw. Ultimately you want to enhance the 

flavour of the mushroom in its purest 

form. You could dry the mushroom 

and turn it into a powder. Cep powder 

reminds me of cocoa powder, and so 

that inspired me to create a tartare 

of venison with cep powder and 

chocolate—again, all based around that 

mushroom’s profile. 

Open yourself up to as many angles as 

you can when you reimagine a dish, so 

that borders do not restrict you. Allow 

yourself to daydream, to go into a 

state of free thinking. Creative thinking 

is born when you are unencumbered 

with preconceived notions and you can 

incorporate true emotion into whatever 

you are doing. And when it’s on the 

plate, you will taste the difference. 


18 

19

think tank 

Fostering 

Talent 

with Daniel Humm 

AD 

Daniel Humm is the lauded chef and 

co-owner of three-Michelin-starred 

Eleven Madison Park and Michelinstarred 

The NoMad and NoMad Bar at 

The NoMad Hotel, all in New York City. 

His cuisine is best described as a focus 

on locally sourced ingredients with 

an emphasis on simplicity, purity, and 

seasonal flavors. 


It’s an exciting time to be a 

young chef because of the 

vast opportunities and the 

spotlight on food right now. 

But that can also serve as a distraction: 

It’s hard to find focus and choose the 

right path given the excitement that 

surrounds this career. My advice to 

young chefs is to pick the things you 

want to learn and concentrate on so 

that you don’t end up becoming a 

‘jack-of-all-trades and master of none’. 

Furthermore, have patience and find 

pleasure in repetition. Working in the 

kitchen is not easy. You are faced with 

long, unforgiving hours, but eventually 

passion will trump everything. 

I strongly believe that cooking is 

learned in a restaurant setting, not a 

school. Culinary schools can provide 

a wonderful base, but if that is not an 

economical option, you are better off 

working with a great chef and learning 

that way. 

It is absolutely our responsibility to 

nurture young chefs. At Make It Nice, 

we believe in a culture of learning and 

leading. Young chefs are our future, and 

we have to invest in them, guide them, 

and mentor them. 

We support great programs like 

Ment’Or, a nonprofit devoted to 

inspiring culinary excellence in young 

professionals through grants and 

competitions, including selecting and 

training the most promising chefs to 

represent the Bocuse d’Or Team USA 

at the world’s most prestigious culinary 

competition. Our own James Kent was a 

Bocuse d’Or competitor, and members 

of our team, like Brian Lockwood and 

James, offer support with events and 

mentoring young chefs. 

It gives me great joy to see young chefs 

become real professionals. To that end, 

we are very fortunate to have people 

from all around the world who want 

to join our team. Our culture is such 

that everyone starts at the bottom and 

works their way up, and over the years 

that has really benefitted us. We have 

people that stay for a long time; they 

have built roots here and helped us 

build our restaurant group. Without that 

strong core, we’d be in a different place. 

Having that allows us to open other 

restaurants, to be comfortable being 

away from the restaurant from time to 

time, and to continue to foster more 

talent in turn. 

20

uncorked 

Laure Patry exudes 

composure. It’s easy to 

see why she is a part of 

the Social team. Jason 

Atherton calls her one of ‘the most unsung top 

sommeliers this country has ever produced. 

She’s just incredible. She’s like Margaret 

Thatcher. No matter what time of day or night, 

she can answer any question or email a reply 

instantaneously. I don’t think she ever sleeps!’ 


Message 

in a Bottle 

Decoding The Social 

Company Wine Lists 

With 15-plus restaurants and more 

opening each year, Executive Head 

Sommelier Laure Patry has her hands full 

overseeing all the wine programmes in each 

location. Add in Social Wine & Tapas, a wine bar 

and shop with over 700 selections to choose from, 

and you just might need to pour yourself a drink as you 

ponder how she handles it all! So how does she wrap her 

head around that many bottles? 

Patry grew up in the Loire Valley, where she 

went to catering school and fell in love with 

wine after taking a year-long course. She 

fully credits her teacher, her mentor, and she 

points to field trips in vineyards that peaked 

her curiosity. She began her official career in 

North Yorkshire and Bath but found herself 

slowly edging towards London in pursuit 

of something a little more ‘busy and 

interesting’. After a couple of years 

at Claridge’s, Patry was offered a 

job at Maze, where she met Atherton 

and followed him on to Pollen Street 

Social. Soon restaurants started opening 

at a fast and furious pace, with Patry at the 

helm of each wine list. 

She remembers that first year well. ‘We opened 

Pollen Street Social in 2011, and I was the head 

sommelier there. Then we launched 22 Ships in 

Hong Kong.’ With only 35 seats, the inventory 

was small, but it enabled Patry to work out a 

system that she would use time and time again 

for each new location. ‘I was sent a list of local 

suppliers and contacted them before putting 

my selection together. Then I headed there for 

about a 10-day stretch.’ She uses this model for 

each opening: working with suppliers to curate a 

list that is often populated with small growers to 

add depth, then working the first few days to set 

things in motion before handing over the reins. 

Each location brought its own set of 

circumstances. ‘At Marina Social in Dubai, there 

were only two suppliers to work with, and all 

the restaurants in town had similar lists. By 

chance, I hooked up with a supplier who got 

me special imports from London. And so we 

ended up with wine no one else had, which 

set us apart.’ Ham & Sherry in Hong Kong had 

Patry scouring London for small-batch sherrys: 

‘I couldn’t find 50 different brands locally!’ It 

arrived the very next day, like magic. The Pig & 

Palm wine list was dictated by location: ‘Wine 

is not a big part of that culture, so we kept the 

list small with a little bit of everything.’ Again, 

she found small growers, this time with a small 

section of fine wines as well. 

A Sip Ahead 

Wine Education 

Walking into a restaurant with advance knowledge 

about the wine list is a great way to not only prepare 

your order but also feel confident about your choice. 

Laure Patry suggests these few simple ways to get 

ahead in the world of wine. 

Get a magazine subscription 

This is a great way learn about wine. Even as sommeliers, we are 

constantly reading up on new vintages and more. Decanter always 

has amazing new and interesting information in it. And there are 

plenty of online resources as well that do not cost a penny. 

Go to the source 

Visit a vineyard, here or abroad. They are the best places to learn 

about wine and the process. Many producers are happy to do 

tastings, and even tours. Can’t get holiday time? Do tastings at 

local wine shops too. 

Taste the spectrum 

Open up your palate by tasting wines you normally wouldn’t. 

You might just find out you’ve been missing something fantastic. 

Come to a masterclass 

We hold classes with and without food pairings. It’s usually for 

about 10 people and runs from 6.30 to 8.30 p.m. on select days, 

so check on our website under ‘Tasting Events’ for upcoming 

ones. It’s a great way to learn with friends too. 

Talk to your sommelier 

The majority of waitstaff at Social Wine & Tapas are highly 

trained sommeliers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and let them 

educate you. That is what they are trained to do! 


22 

23

uncorked 

uncorked 


She fell into a rhythm with the overseas 

places: setting up the wine list, doing the 

opening, supervising the staff training, 

and then letting her team order and 

evolve each wine list as they saw fit. But 

Patry also had a stable of restaurants in 

London on which to keep weekly tabs. 

With the addition of her own wine shop 

at Social Wine & Tapas, it made sense to 

base her headquarters there, inviting all 

the other local restaurants to come by 

to taste and train. 

Between suppliers and visiting wine 

producers, tastings are frequent, often 

several times a week in the mornings 

and afternoons. It’s important to Patry 

to involve everyone on her team when 

it comes to tasting. ‘We do our research 

when we are looking for something 

specific for a wine list, and I want 

everyone’s feedback.’ In addition, 

she holds monthly head sommelier 

meetings at the wine shop—a round 

table to go through each restaurant and 

address issues as they come up. 

There are often staff trips to 

vineyards, and The Social Company 

pays for their sommeliers to take 

additional courses and certifications. 

Patry points out that she currently 

has a staff member going through 

Master Sommelier training, so there 

are plenty of blind tastings at the 

restaurant that facilitate an ongoing 

conversation about wine in the 

workplace. ‘It’s nice to have one team 

with the same passion,’ she says. 

She lets her guard down a little as she 

talks specifically about Social Wine & 

Tapas. It is clearly her ‘baby’. Despite 

the breadth of selection, Patry doesn’t 

rely on tried-and-true sellers; instead, 

much like her wine lists elsewhere, she 

seeks out small growers and unusual 

wines to keep the place special. ‘I 

don’t want to be like everyone else,’ 

she explains. ‘I don’t have a sauvignon 

blanc from New Zealand or a pinot 

grigio just because people ask for 

it.’ But, please, ask away, and she 

‘ 

The idea here is to engage the 

customer as much as possible and 

encourage them to try something 

new, while educating them at the 

same time.’ 

—Executive head Sommelier Laure Patry 

or one of her very knowledgeable 

staff—all sommeliers—will be happy 

to recommend something quite 

similar, perhaps from somewhere quite 

different. ‘The idea here is to engage 

the customer as much as possible and 

encourage them to try something new, 

while educating them at the same time.’ 

There’s plenty to dive into. Patry gets 

access to producers who won’t sell to 

anyone else, because they either don’t 

have the volume or else they bottle 

it especially for her. It’s no small feat 

to keep on top of it. Small quantities 

means the list changes quite a bit. Plus, 

keeping an inventory for the wine shop 

separate from the restaurants’ means 

double the work. 

But Patry doesn’t mind—she’s in her 

element. Social Wine & Tapas is the 

big payoff for dedication to her craft. 

And she’s probably working on the 

wine list for the next grand opening as 

you read this! 

Fall into Wine: Available 

now at Social Wine & Tapas 

Anjou, L'O2 Vigne, Chenin Voile, Jean François 

Chêne, Loire Valley 2005 

Left for three years under the development of the yeast veil, almost Jura style with 

nuttiness, bruised apples, and some spices also. Unfiltered, shows some sediments 

and deposits, as the producer feels that the wine needs to be left as is to evolve in the 

bottle. The type of wine you want to drink on a cold day. 

Trousseau Gris, Wind Gap, Sonoma Coast, 

California 2013 

An unusual grape variety that has a slight pink colour. The wine is fresh, elegant, floral, 

herbal, and zesty. 

Adi Badenhorst, John Strikes Again 375cl, 

South Africa NV 

A one-of-a-kind sauvignon blanc aged under the yeast veil like a sherry. It has similarities 

to a fino with the salty minerality, as the barrels are stored near the sea. Aromatic with 

some nuttiness. Only made in very small quantities and sold as a half bottle. 

Roc d`Anglade, Vin de Pays du Gard 2005 

Known as the ‘Pinot Noir from the South of France’, this is mostly carignan with 

mourvedre, grenache, and syrah. After aging for 10 years, the wine is very elegant 

and refined, and shows development with sous bois and truffle aromas. 

Syrah, Chanterêves, L’Intrus 2014 

Exclusive to Social Wine & Tapas in the UK. A syrah from Ventoux in the Rhône 

Valley, bottled in Savigny-lés-Beaune in Burgundy. This is a fun project for the domaine 

Chanterêves, and they will only produce a small quantity of bottles. A fresh and easy 

drinking wine with berry fruits and some meaty notes. No sulphur added. 

You can find 

this selection of 

Executive Head 

Sommelier Laure 

Patry’s favorite new 

picks for autumn 

on the wine menu as 

well as available 

for purchase. 

Pairing: Very complex 

white wine that matches 

well with everything 

from ham and cheese to 

white meat dishes. 

Pairing: Try it with 

the monkfish. 

Pairing: Start your 

meal with peppers, 

croquettes, some cheese, 

and a glass of this. 

Pairing: We just started 

serving it by the glass. I would 

recommend it with our ox 

cheek dish and also the rib-eye. 

Pairing: Perfect for 

our style of food at Social 

Wine & Tapas. 


24 

25

travel 

Carbon Market 

Kandaya Resort 

Kawasan Falls 

Irha Atherton 

Magellan’s Cross 

by Irha Atherton 

Notorious P.I.G. 


Cebu, an island province of the Philippines and my hometown, 

is finally emerging from Manila’s shadow as a destination in 

its own right. It has a rich and varied colonial history, with the 

Spanish, Chinese, and Americans all flocking there through 

the centuries, and our culture and food reflects this. Cebu 

is famed for its international schools and beautiful furniture 

craftsmanship, but it’s worth visiting alone for the white sand 

beaches, secret waterfalls, and spectacular diving. 

Bantayan Island 

Breakfast Pitstop 

The A Café, which is run by the Abaca 

Group. Find it in a building called 

Crossroads, along with lots of other 

great little restaurants to discover. 

They do the best pastries and baked 

goods. Try a warm pandesal roll—a 

traditional Filipino slightly sweet 

bread—with a coffee. 

Go-To Market 

Carbon Market is the oldest and largest 

farmer’s market and sells everything 

from vegetables and fish to clothes 

and crafts. 

Beach Bound 

There are so many beautiful beaches 

in Cebu. Take a trip to Bantayan Island: 

it has idyllic white sand beaches and 

crystal-clear blue water, plus it’s 

really secluded! 

A Good Night’s Sleep 

The Henry Hotel is a very cool 

and quirky hotel in Cebu City with 

wonderfully vibrant interiors. If you’re 

looking for luxury, try the Kandaya 

Resort, which has stunning beaches. 

Eat Local 

Cebu’s most famous dish is lechon de 

leche, or suckling pig. Most Filipino 

families make a Sunday meal out of 

this. The best place to try it is in the 

province of Carcar, but we also offer 

a delicious version of it at mine and 

Jason’s new restaurant in Cebu, The 

Pig & Palm, with soya onion gravy, 

apple, and mustard leaf. Also, be sure 

to try adobo, a classic Filipino dish 

with chicken and pork. (Café Laguna 

does a great one.) As well as kinilaw, 

which is our version of ceviche. 

Farm Local 

We were lucky to find the fantastic 

little God’s Grace Farm, run by young 

people who take real care and pride in 

what they do. Amazing organic carrots, 

onions, and unusual forms of mustard 

leaf are all delivered beautifully to 

the restaurant. 

Cultural Gems 

Due to its colonial past, Cebu has some 

beautiful Spanish heritage spots. Visit 

Magellan’s Cross, which was erected 

when Portuguese and Spanish explorers 

lechon de leche 

first arrived in Cebu in the 16th century. 

I also love the beautiful Basilica del 

Santo Niño, again founded in the 16th 

century, which contains the oldest 

Christian image in the Philippines. 

Dive In 

Go whale shark watching in Oslob, 

on the southwest coast of Cebu. 

Whale sharks are the largest fish in 

the world, and swimming alongside 

them in crystal-clear waters is a truly 

unique experience. Also check out the 

incredibly beautiful Kawasan Falls in 

Badian, Cebu. 

Cocktail Capers 

Saddle up to the bar at The Pig & 

Palm and order a Notorious P.I.G. with 

bacon butter bourbon, maple syrup, 

and sea salt, or the very refreshing 

Proseccolada with pineapple cordial, 

coconut rum, and prosecco. 

When Not in Rome … 

Head to Tavolata, an Italian trattoria 

that serves delicious freshly made 

pasta and pizza. The atmosphere is 

great for a special occasion, without 

being too formal. 


26 

27

Discover escapes... 

as rare as their settings. 

Auberge du Soleil 

Napa Valley, California 

Calistoga Ranch 


Solage 


Chileno Bay Resort 

Los Cabos, Mexico 

Esperanza 

Los Cabos, Mexico 

Hotel Jerome 

Aspen, Colorado 

Element 52 

Telluride, Colorado 

Hacienda AltaGracia 

Pérez Zeledón, Costa Rica 

Malliouhana 

Anguilla, BWI 

Nanuku 

Pacific Harbour, Fiji 

Malliouhana, Anguilla 

Behind the Bar 

Talking Cocktails in a Cosmopolitan World 

with Group Bar Executive Jamie Jones 

In the most captivating locations lie tranquil retreats. Where nature is infused with 

the ultimate nurture. And unsurpassed luxuries inspire ultimate delight. 

Discover Auberge Resorts Collection. 

888.700.5058 | aubergeresorts.com 

When he started with The Social Company just last winter, Jamie Jones had 

come a long way from his weekend job as a glass collector in a tiny bar in 

his hometown of Chester. And, mind you, he walked in with a plan: the big 

picture—an 18-month vision, with bar menu concept changes at several 

locations—and the tiny details, or bits to tweak now and then. He had 

both the experience and the confidence to pull it off. 


29

ehind the bar 

approach to that menu, but we didn’t talk 

about those elements, because we made 

it very front-end friendly. Instead he’s firm 

on the idea that a cocktail list creates 

things that people want to buy through the 

connotations of the flavours they can see on 

paper: ‘So they can taste it in their head, so 

to speak.’ 

behind the bar 


JJamie Jones 

calls what he 

does ‘managing 

expectations’. Little 

did he realise how the world of cocktails 

might exceed his own. He remembers 

the first nerve-wracking time he found 

himself behind the bar. ‘I was so scared, 

but they sort of pushed me into it,’ he 

remembers. He found himself cleaning 

the bottles on the bar every Monday 

evening, when it was quiet. ‘I would 

take all the lids off, smell each liquid, 

and start to analyse those aromas, 

memorizing them and building up a 

memory bank of scents and flavour 

profiles.’ This led him to physically 

piece together cocktails through 

experimentation. ‘I began to enjoy the 

energy behind the bar. My confidence 

grew, and it was a huge social relief for 

me.’ Jones started to enter competitions 

and build a reputation for himself, 

nationally even, which eventually led 

him to create his consultancy to 

help other teams create their own 

cocktail programmes. 

He travelled a lot as the child, because 

his father had been stationed in Saudi 

Arabia during the Gulf War. This diverse 

upbringing, moving around in the 

Middle East and travelling through a 

fair part of Asia with his family, boded 

well for him. Even boarding school in 

Yorkshire gave him an international 

understanding he could later draw upon 

in the world of cocktails. It helped him 

tap into different audience needs with an 

almost innate understanding of culture. 

It’s more than necessary at The Social 

Company, with bars dot the globe. ‘It’s 

one thing to do your online research and 

study a country or demographic in terms 

of what they like to drink, but you also 

have to be careful not to offend people,’ 

Jones points out. Never a good thing, 

especially when alcohol is involved! 

‘ 

It was very important 

to us to provide a 

bar component at 

each restaurant that 

completes the “big 

night out” experience.’ 

—Chef Jason Atherton 

This helped him tremendously with his 

most recent endeavour at The Pig & 

Palm in Cebu. He had a chance to spend 

time with Cebu’s chef, who came to 

London to prep for the opening. ‘The 

chef took me to Chinatown to show me 

all the ingredients I would be working 

with, like soursop and ube, a purple 

yam. From there I began to work my 

flavour thesaurus backwards to figure 

out what each would work best with 

in a drink.’ The ube worked itself into 

a blended cocktail as a purple yam ice 

cream. ‘Cebu mangos are amazing—so 

sweet and juicy. The pineapples are 

different, even the limes. So drinks had 

to be reworked and modified to take 

those differences into account.’ 

By taking familiar drinks and tweaking 

the ingredients, Jones’s plan was to offer 

a list which locals could tune into and 

visitors would likewise find appealing. 

Take the Notorious P.I.G.—an Old- 

Fashioned made with bacon and butter. 

Yes, you read that right! ‘We cooked off 

the bacon and butter and poured the 

fat into bottles of whiskey.’ The bottles 

were put in the freezer, and once the fat 

solidified, it was skimmed off the top. 

‘What you are left with is a product with 

the taste and flavour of bacon, smoke, 

and salt, and the smoothness of the 

butter, because of the viscosity. It takes 

a bite out of the whiskey. Stir in some 

maple syrup, and you’ve got an Old- 

Fashioned.’ Not to mention that Cebu 

is known for its pork, making this an 

instant favourite. 

Jones finds himself at The Blind Pig 

most days, where he keeps daily tabs on 

many of the other sites. Some need a bit 

more nurturing than others. ‘Each bar 

has a personality, and every bartender 

brings to the table a different creative 

background.’ Sometimes that dictates 

a menu. He points to Berners Tavern, 

where a former employee at Dandelyan 

developed the cocktail programme, 

and where they use a lot of scientific 

techniques. ‘That might have been the 

‘A good cocktail bar is about escapism: You 

go into a certain environment because you are 

comfortable with the people around you—the 

lighting, the music, and the drinks—regardless 

of all the woes around you in the world.’ But 

each location draws in a different crowd with 

unique expectations, even if they are in the 

same town separated only by a few streets. 

Jones is careful to deliver on that distinction. 

‘Most people do not go to Pollen Social and 

expect some of the drinks that we have on 

The Blind Pig menu, that might draw too 

much attention to themselves,’ he gives as an 

example. With names full of puns like Robin 

Hood, Quince of Thieves, and memorable 

garnishes including mini popcorn buckets and 

pickles, The Blind Pig is playful: ‘It doesn’t fit 

the environment at Pollen Street Social.’ 

The bar at Sosharu, 7 Tales, straddles a fine 

line between the two aforementioned places. 

The room has definite character in terms of 

an over-the-top downtown Tokyo–pop art– 

neon lights fusion of decor. The Champagne 

Papi involves getting your drink along with a 

token that has to be inserted into a vending 

machine, reminiscent of ones you find on 

the streets of Japan, in order to get the last 

ingredient for the drink. ‘Everyone loves 

vending machines, plus it’s nostalgic,’ claims 

Jones. ‘It’s not about patronising people—it’s 

about not trying to grow up and have some 

fun along the way.’ We’ll drink to that! 

Meet your bartender 

Robyn Wilkie 

Current position: Assistant bar manager at Sosharu and 7 Tales 

First job in the industry: London Cocktail Club, Shaftesbury Avenue 

Go-to cocktail: Aperol Spritz 

Must have bar tool: Tongs 

Latest ingredient craze: Sherry 

Hot toddy of choice: Scotch 

Most unusual savoury ingredient used in a cocktail: Seaweed 

Favorite bar snack: Calamari 

Can be found imbibing at: Satan's Whiskers 


30 

31

Laurent-Perrier 

chosen by The Ritz London. 

Illustrated by Quentin Blake 

CUVÉE ROSÉ 

CHOSEN BY THE BEST 

Photo credit: Iris Velghe / Illustrator credit: Quentin Blake 

‘ 

BLACK TO 

THE FUTURE 

By Jamie Jones 

Black to the Future is my modernisation 

of the classic espresso martini, omitting 

the coffee and utilising cold-press coffee 

liqueur in its place, making something 

more akin to the classic dirty vodka martini 

with the salinity of the soy sauce, as well as 

stirring the drink down and not shaking it.’ 

ingredients 

40 ml vodka 

20 ml cold-press coffee liqueur 

1 bar spoon sugar syrup 

2 dashes of soy sauce 

Method 

Stir all ingredients over ice and strain into a 

martini glass. 


33

news 

Publisher 

Michael Goldman 

What’s New at 

the Social COMPANY 

Temple & Sons Now Open 

Jason Atherton’s latest restaurant Temple & Sons, situated next 

to City Social, is now open. With a grill at its hearth, Temple & 

Sons inspires family-style sharing in a relaxed atmosphere. Meats, 

whole fish, and vegetables come to the centre of the table cooked 

via the grill. A bar downstairs riffs on the traditional British 

greengrocer setup, with cans lining the wall. A canning machine 

carbonates drinks with playful names like the ‘Canhattan’. Open 

for lunch and dinner. 

New Nova Project to Open February 

2017 in the Heart of Victoria 

Introducing a new concept to The Social Company fold, this 

relaxed Italian restaurant will reside in a large space and feature 

two amazing pizza ovens handmade in Sicily. Expect exceptional 

pizzas, pastas, and traditional antipasto plates. Head upstairs for 

a wide selection of Italian-style spritzes. Breakfast available at an 

adjacent deli space. 

Autumn/Winter Menu Now Serving 

at Heathrow VIP 

The ultimate airport experience that offers a luxurious and 

exclusive transition through Heathrow includes a dining option 

of inspired seasonal fare from Chef Jason Atherton. With a new 

menu debuting each month, travellers can indulge in the best of 

British cuisine before they leave the country, taking with them the 

taste memory of a true Michelin-starred meal. 

John Lewis Debuts Barware 

Collection in Time for Christmas 

Inspired by his flagship bar, The Blind Pig, Jason Atherton’s 

new barware collection, available through John Lewis, offers a 

bespoke option for any home bar enthusiast. Items include six 

beautiful cocktail glasses and copper-coloured barware, complete 

with recipes, and all the tools necessary to hone your craft. 

International Editor 

Namai Bishop 

Editor-in-Chief 

Pamela Jouan 

Design Director 

Seton Rossini 

Managing Editor 

Christian Kappner 

Assistant Editor 

Stephane Henrion 

Senior Copy Editor 

kelly suzan waggoner 

Contributing Writer 

Pamela Jouan 

Photography 

John Carey 

Jean Cazals 

Light & Motion 

Karena Perronet-Miller 

All other photography 

courtesy of 

The Social Company 

Advertising Inquiries 

718.288.8688 

HauteLife Press 

a division of C-BON MEDIA, LLC. 

321 Dean Street 

Suite 1 

Brooklyn, NY 11217 

www.hautelifepress.com 

info@hautelifepress.com 

Subscription Inquiries 

718.288.8688 

subscriptions@hautelifepress.com 

or visit www.hautelifepress.com 

HauteLife Press makes every effort 

to ensure that the information it 

publishes is correct but cannot be 

held responsible for any errors or 

omissions. 

Printed and bound in the U.S.A. 

© 2016 All rights reserved. 

Reproduction without permission 

is strictly prohibited. 

THE ULTIMATE 

AIRPORT EXPERIENCE 

Heathrow VIP guests can experience Jason’s signature dishes, 

taking inspiration each month from one of his restaurants in London, 

New York, Dubai, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney and Cebu City. 


jasonatherton.co.uk 

London 

Pollen Street Social 

Social Eating House 


Little Social 

City Social 

Sosharu 

Social Wine & Tapas 

Temple & Sons 

New York 

The Clocktower 

Dubai 

Marina Social 

Hong Kong 

Ham & Sherry 

22 Ships 

Aberdeen Street Social 

Shanghai 

The Commune Social 

The Philippines 

The Pig & Palm 

Sydney 

Kensington Street Social 

heathrowvip.com 

34

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