London: Restaurants – Ottolenghi’s
Nopi. With three deli’s, an online
store, the Soho-based restaurant Nopi, his column in the Guardian, on-going
cookery books and programs for television Yotam Ottolenghi is a busy chef. In his Nopi restaurant customers are greeted
with fresh baked bread and his trademarks platters full of salads, which
celebrate the bold flavors, he is so well known for. “We wanted an all-day
brasserie. An urban, busy place, yet a place where you can relax and enjoy the
food, service and view, both of the premises and of the people. But, we didn't want to go down the root of
creating yet another brasserie in the French style. So we dissected the
brasserie elements: marble, tiles, wood and brass. These elements are conjured
to create new, surprising and very modern combinations.” The restaurant was designed by Alex Meitlis,
one of the leading architects and furniture designers in Israel.
Nopi. Sami Tamini, “With a cooking
style that is as inimitable as it has always been, vibrant and bold yet simple
and honest, Sami holds the helm in the heat of the Ottolenghi kitchens since
the first day we opened. Head chef, mentor to many, visionary behind so many of
the longstanding and latest dishes, Sami’s precision, palate and panache is the
heart and soul of the food we are renowned for. He and Yotam have co-authored
the Ottolenghi Cookbook and Jerusalem cookbooks."
Simple yet elegant table setting; big
brass O napkin rings hold crispy ironed napkins whilst the white paper
tablecloths are store in especially designed holes in the wall by the bar.
Freshly baked bread, olive oil and
water are brought to the table. The
Sparkling water is stored in a bottle with 3 Os on it’s front whilst the flat
water has a simple O gold motif.
Mixed beetroot, pickled daikon,
sweet miso yoghurt
Nopi. All the table and chairs are
designed by architect Alex Meitlis.
Nopi’s menu changes according to the
seasons but signature dishes from head chef Ramael Scully include courgette and
manouri fritters, coriander seed-crusted burrata with slices of blood orange,
above, and twice-cooked baby chicken with lemon myrtle salt and chili jam. Nopi
serves breakfast, lunch, pre-theatre and dinner menus.
The brass lamps are replicas of an
old lamp found in Jaffa’s flee market and, are reproduced by Iris Design Studio
in Israel.
Nopi. The more formal design of the ground floor
gives way to the informality of the basement, where two long canteen tables
look on to the theatre of the open kitchen.
The bar sculpture is by artist Tamar
Blum Zidon, she brings a unique approach to a mundane and usually discarded
material; using cardboard as her medium, she has developed a specialized
technique in which she lets her personal artistic style flourish. Her sculptures organic forms seems to have
originated from nature itself, they emulate the work of nature yet do not
characteristically imitate it.
The Valdeon cheesecake, pickled
beetroot, hazelnut, thyme honey comes in a copper pan; the hot handle is
wrapped with a napkin which is held together with string.
Lemon sole, burnt butter, ginger,
nori
Plum and Marsala trifle,
blackcurrant and liquorice sorbet
Nopi. The painting is by artist Josephine King who
makes ink paintings on paper, framed by text, which documents the often-traumatic
experience of her life. Her debut
exhibition “Life so Far” at Riflemaker, documented her bipolar illness, from
which she has suffered since age twenty, but which ironically has been the
catalyst for her paintings and their subject matter. The painting above entitled “I told him I was
an artist. He said “can you cook?” is on
loan from the Riflemaker Gallery.