Amy Corbin

The restaurateur talks to Flora Watkins about opening on the ‘wrong’ side of Peckham and prawn cocktails at The Wolseley

Was opening your first restaurant in Peckham a gamble?

We were taking a risk, for sure, opening Kudu (119, Queen’s Road, SE15) at the ‘wrong’ end of Peckham, away from the [gentrified] Bellenden Road and the common. When we took over the site, it was a Caribbean chicken shop, very grimy and we had to gut it completely. But I felt that, if we made it good enough, people would come. When Giles Coren reviewed us in The Times a couple of years ago, it really put us on the map as a destination. For the next three months, we had black cabs pulling up outside from north London.

How did you manage to expand during the pandemic?

We opened our cocktail bar, Smokey Kudu (Arch 133, Queen’s Road, SE15) underneath Queen’s Road overland station literally three months before the first lockdown. We’d taken over the site next door to Kudu, which used to be a Chinese currency exchange—we were convinced it was a money-laundering place because it never opened. It was originally going to be a tapas-style place called Little Kudu. But when the pandemic hit, we got nervous, so we changed the concept to Curious Kudu (117, Queen’s Road), which is our private dining room. It’s an exhibition space for local artists to hang work, so, during the day, it’s open to the public as an art gallery.

‘I remember being in a highchair and eating at The Ivy–we basically grew up in restaurants’

My babysitter told me about a restaurant in Nunhead that wasn’t re-opening after lockdown and I suggested we took over the site to make it a grill restaurant—that’s what Patrick [Williams], my husband, always wanted, being South African. It’s a braai—a South African barbecue; a way of open-fire cooking. Because Kudu received a Michelin Bib Gourmand within a few months of opening, we wanted somewhere more relaxed for family and friends. I love taking friends to Kudu Grill (57, Nunhead Lane, SE15) and sharing the whole black bream from the grill. It comes with these amazing rotis and you make your own fish wrap with some salad—a fun, interactive dish.

Do you live locally?

We’re right by Nunhead Cemetery (Linden Grove, SE15), which is the most amazing, enclosed secret garden. You’d never know you’re in London. There are tons of independent suppliers in Nunhead High Street, which I love. We buy cheeses and charcuterie at a really sweet deli, Mother Superior, (26, Nunhead Green, SE15) and all the fish for our restaurants at FC Soper (141, Evelina Road, SE15). There’s a really good coffee shop run by an Aussie guy called Goodcup (44, Nunhead Green, SE15); I love going down there at week

ends with my girls.

Have you always lived south of the river?

I grew up in Clapham—my parents still live there, in Crescent Grove, overlooking the common. That’s definitely home, too. Like Peckham, it’s changed a lot. When we first moved to Clapham, 23 years ago, there were only two restaurants on the High Street, including an Indian, Maharani (117, Clapham High Street, SW4), which is still there. We used to go there as a family when we drove back from France.

Given your heritage [Amy’s father, Chris Corbin, helped launch some of London’s most iconic restaurants], has fine dining always been part of your life?

I remember being in a highchair and eating at The Ivy (1–5, West Street, Covent Garden, WC2). We basically grew up in restaurants because my dad worked so hard—the only way we could eat as a family was to go to The Wolseley (160, Piccadilly, St James’s, W1). I loved the prawn cocktail and my brother would have the hamburger, then I’d order the Chocolate Liegeois coupe, my absolute favourite.