We catch up with Ember Yard's Jacques Fourie

Straddling the line between upmarket dining and buzzy tapas bars, the Salt Yard restaurants are hard to categorise. Instead of sticking to one particular cuisine they serve food inspired by the owners’ travels around New York, San Sebastian, Barcelona, Venice and Rome. Their first restaurant, Salt Yard, was a real labour of love; armed with a teensy budget they set about transforming a derelict former sushi eatery on Goodge Street with the help of friends and family. Salt Yard was a huge success, and the group went on to open Dehesa and Opera Tavern with similar concepts.

In late 2013 Ember Yard became the most recent addition to the roster, focusing on Basque cuisine and food cooked on the charcoal grill. We caught up with head chef Jacques Fourie who shared his recipe for one of their most ordered dishes:grilled Iberico presa. Presa is the wagyu of pork, a tender, marbled cut taken from the shoulder of the animal. Here it’s marinated in honey and spices, cooked on the grill and served with whipped Iberico ham butter.

What does Ember Yard do that nowhere else does?
I think the way we combine the traditional cooking methods of the Basque country and Italy with a modern, ingredient-led touch to our dishes is what makes us unique.

What is your guilty pleasure?
I often light the BBQ for a steak and salad at 1 in the morning after a double shift at work.

What has your worst kitchen experience been?
On my first day at Salt Yard, seven years ago, Ben Tish was on the pass and had just finished portioning a full tray of cheese for our cheese selections. I reached to grab something off a shelf and knocked a kilo tub of freshly ground black pepper all over the tray of cheese. I thought he was going to chase me away that day.

What has your most valuable experience as a chef been?
To always trust your first instinct when coming up with new dishes. If you try something new and your first thought is that the dish needs more acidity, then 99% of the time it is exactly what it needs. That, and that salt is a chef’s best friend.

What do you think of London’s restaurant scene?
Over recent years I think it’s shifted to more and more top quality restaurants opening outside the West End and the City. This drives the prices down and allows the general public to visit them more frequently.

What food trends do you think we’ll see in the coming year?
I think we will continue to see more South American restaurants opening, as well as a few more BBQ-inspired places.

Do you have a signature recipe you can share with us?
Grilled Iberico Presa with Whipped Jamon Butter. This dish has been on our menu at Ember Yard since we opened and is definitely one of our most popular dishes.

Ingredients:
200g Iberico presa (or beef ribeye if you prefer)
50g unsalted butter
20g diced jamon Iberico
1 tbsp smoked paprika
drizzle of honey
1/2 lemon

Method:
Dust the steaks with the smoked paprika, Maldon salt and a good drizzle of honey. Leave to marinade for at least an hour.

Heat up a frying pan and lightly saute the diced ham. Leave to cool and add the butter at room temperature.Whisk until pale and fluffy.

Heat a BBQ or griddle pan to high heat. Place the steaks on the heat and leave to caramelise and blacken slightly.Turn the steaks and leave for 3-4 minutes.

Remove from the heat, squeeze the lemon juice over and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Slice the steaks into thick slivers and serve with the jamon butter on the side.