The All in One Ultimate Restaurant List Interview: Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi’s popularity is owed to a menu of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean dishes, enticing deli counters and artisanal produce. Now numbering five restaurants, the Islington branch is a new high entry on our top 100 Ultimate Restaurant List at 36. We caught up with head chef Sami Tamimi.

What does Ottolenghi do that nowhere else does?
We do home cooking style food, food that is approachable, food that we love to eat. We are always moving forward and look for new things. We try to use the best quality ingredients we can and never compromise when it comes to that.

Has your menu evolved over the time you’ve been open?
Definitely. When we started the food was very heavily influenced by the Middle East and the place where we grew up but over the years we travelled a lot and had some talented chefs working for us, all of that had a big input on the food that we cook today.

Have any new restaurants excited you recently?
I'm always happy to eat at Duck soup. The Palomar is always good for home flavours. Also Smoking Goat and Taberna do Mercado.

What food is your guilty pleasure?
Ice cream. Toasted bagels with lots of cream cheese and smoked salmon. Any type of dumplings and anything with coconut in it.

What’s been your most stressful experience in the kitchen?
Opening a new place is always very stressful.

Which is your signature dish?
We have so many but the roasted aubergine with saffron yoghurt and pomegranate seeds seems to be everyone's favourite.