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Chef Dan Graham’s Michelin starwinning menus are inspired by his travels and his Jewish roots
TUCKED AWAY on a back street in Stoke Newington, is a diminutive restaurant called Pidgin. This unassuming establishment with its Parisian bistro tables and simple wooden chairs, is currently Trip Advisor’s highest listed of the more than sixty restaurants with Michelin stars in London. The brainchild of Sam Herlihy and James Ramsden, who ran a hip supper club called The Secret Larder, Pidgin’s kitchen is run by self-taught 30-year-old head chef, Dan Graham.
Growing up, Dan remembers helping in his grandparents’ kitchen. Ruth and David Stern were both well-known architects who were part of the Jewish communities of Norrice Lea and Highgate. David designed the shuls at Kingsbury, Oxford and Richmond. Main image: Indian syrup cake with mezcal ice cream, black sugar caramel and blood orange; above right: hasselback ratte potatoes with smoked Jersey Royal cream
“I look back at photos of myself as a child and there are lots of me in the kitchen, wearing an apron, wooden spoon in hand. I cooked with my grandma, and my parents are both great cooks. We had Friday night dinners and I went to synagogue on festivals. It was always about family and food. We met over food. When I am cooking and working in restaurants I think about the hospitality of the Jewish family and want to recreate that.”
Although he followed his grandparents into architecture, Graham soon realised that he wanted to be creative with food rather than buildings. He began ploughing through catering college books in his own time, teaching himself the basics needed in the professional kitchen.
Yet when he landed a job at Odette’s in Primrose Hill as a lowly commis-chef, it was another story.
“When you get into a real kitchen it’s like starting all over again. I was lucky as the team at Odette’s were happy to help. Head chef, Dan Fancett always said that