Ollie Dabbous

The Michelin-starred chef-patron of Hide talks to Flora Watkins about cooking up a storm for Royal Ascot and why Holland Park is home

Has Royal Ascot become a regular fixture for you?

It’s the third time I’ve done it in four years. This time, I’m in the Royal Enclosure restaurant, the Sandringham—they’re all named after royal residences. We’re doing a mix of a buffet and an à la carte menu. The à la carte is probably a bit closer to what we do at Hide (85, Piccadilly, W1), so a little more gastronomic. On the buffet, which is more my style —light, fresh, healthy—we’re doing a charred organic salmon rolled in lemon zest and herbs served with a horseradish buttermilk. Or you could have lamb from the royal estate nearby; we’re doing some leg and cutlets, with violet mustard and za’atar.

Are you able to catch any of the racing?

I don’t have time to place any bets, it’s two solid days of prep, then showtime! We do 250 covers a day for five days and afternoon tea as well; lobster brioche rolls rather than finger sandwiches this year, pork and cider sausage rolls and scones, of course, with jam and clotted cream. Afternoon teas can be a little sickly sweet and garish; with this one I’ve tried to recalibrate the sweet to savoury.

You recently moved from central London to Holland Park. How are you finding it? I thought I’d miss living centrally more than I do—we were in Covent Garden and, before that, Fitzrovia. Just after I set up my first restaurant [Dabbous, in Whitfield Street, W1, in 2012], I moved as close as I could to it. But we got to the stage of needing more space and a level of decompression you don’t get when you’re in the thick of things.

Holland Park is a lovely area; we’re getting our place done up at the moment. It’s a classic white-stuccoed maisonette. There’s lots for the kids to do, too [Rafael, age three, and one-year-old Rocco]. I’m hoping to start hitting a tennis ball with our eldest

soon. There are several peacocks in the park; one of them, randomly, is called Kevin—the last name you’d expect a peacock to have!—so whenever we go there, that’s who Rafael wants to see.

Where do you shop locally?

There are some great shops on the Avenue; Supermarket of Dreams (126, Holland Park Avenue, W11) is a deli, Lidgate the butchers is there, too (110, Holland Park Avenue, W11). There’s a neighbourhood restaurant off the Avenue called Six Portland Road with a modern British menu, full of things you want to eat.

We’ve had some nice artwork framed for our new place at Frame, Set & Match in Notting Hill (113, Notting Hill Gate, W11). We’re using Brinkworth, which did my first two restaurants, as our architect (4–6, Ellsworth Street, E2) and have bought quite a few door fittings from a company called Buster + Punch, which has a showroom in Southwark (The Hop Exchange, 24, Southwark Street, SE1).

Has life returned to normal at Hide since the last restrictions were lifted? Eating out has renewed its currency and everyone is enjoying it with a revived vigour. My first cooking job is to make my sons’ porridge in the morning, then I’ll get in to Hide about 7.30am. My day-to-day job is checking consistency, testing new dishes. One that recently came onto the menu is a salad of beetroot and strawberries with a little bit of sheep’s cheese and some toasted hazelnuts, topped with a plum kernel oil granita. It’s a vibrant spring starter that’s really fresh and means you can indulge in a pudding down the line.

I’m also working on dishes for Hideaway (100, Mount Street, W1, pictured above), a little coffee shop just opposite Scott’s that’s been going about 18 months.

‘There are several peacocks in Holland Park. One, randomly, is called Kevin’