Pinch me
Dara Klein, Le Café by Nicolas Rouzaud, St John’s Wood listings, Temaki, best Bermondsey restaurants, MORE
RESTAURANTS • The Ask
Since we launched FOUND, we’ve been asking all new subscribers to tell us their favourite restaurant. Thousands of you have obliged, for which we are grateful. (It’s a great list!) Today, as we prepare to draft the first-ever canonical list of FOUND’s favourite London restaurants (the FOUND 45), we’re asking those of you who haven’t shared your favourite restaurant to reply to this email and give up the goods. Bonus points for a line or two explaining why you love the restaurant.
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Just dance
DARA KLEIN • head chef & founder • Tiella Trattoria & Bar
Neighbourhood you work in: Columbia Rd
Neighbourhood you live in: Victoria Park
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
First things first, turn the dishwasher on, put all the kitchen deliveries away, then make coffee for the team and write the prep list for the day. I’m usually in the kitchen with my chefs, either teaching them a recipe or making it myself. The morning is spent making pasta dough, prepping whatever else is needed for the evening menu, brainstorming dishes for the coming week and managing a constant stream of deliveries. It’s a lot, but it’s very satisfying once it’s over.
What’s on the agenda for today?
My debut cookbook La Trattoria: Intuitive Italian Cooking is out later this year, and I’m gearing up for its release. It’s super personal and documents my life growing up in my family’s restaurant and subsequently opening my own. I’m getting ready to share it with the world in a way that feels meaningful and real. At the same time, my trattoria (intel) is four months old, and we’re growing every day. I’m training my team, we’re developing the menu and it’s getting busier and busier. But right now, I’m on the island of Crete, staring out at the sea. One final moment of calm before a hectic summer. Pinch me.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
My management team and I are planning a dinner soon at Etles Uyghur Restaurant in Walthamstow. It’s the most beautiful little restaurant with insanely punchy, flavoursome food, where you can also BYOB. I’m desperate to check out Teal by Sally Abé as well as Donia, both of which are meant to be amazing.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I’m really overdue a dance. Next week, I’m going to check out the brilliant DJ, MarshmeLLo, at Giant Steps. My friends Lachlan and Maxime have started throwing a night called Floor Memories at Parasol bar in Hackney, where they play a lot of disco. I get out into Epping Forest as much as I can for some air and birdwatching too.
Any weekend getaways?
I recently stayed at the Powdermills hotel in Battle, which was amazing. It’s situated on grounds with a lake, a nice forest trail, a sauna and hot tub perched right above the lake. There’s also a pool and it’s really quiet and serene. You can get to Hastings and St Leonards quickly from there and sit by the seaside, which is always good for the mind.
What was your last great holiday?
I’m currently just outside Heraklion, Crete. It’s my first time on the island and I’m completely blown away by the generosity and warmth of the people. We’ve eaten so well, first at a taverna in the hills called To Rodi (make sure to go on the weekend for the smoked lamb) and then in the city centre last night at Paradosiakon. The country sausage is incredible, maybe in my top five sausages ever. We’ve barely moved from the beachside hotel we’re staying in, called Yianna Caravel. It’s just on the outskirts of the city, but the sea is amazing and it’s easy to get around.
WORK & PLAY LINKS: Across from Barbican, One Silk Street development approved • Huge transformation set for Fleet Street • How London developers are reimagining brutalist buildings • The life-changing Frida Kahlo exhibition coming to the Tate this month • London’s air con era is here • How The Notswolds became a new crucible of craft.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, Bermondsey
FOUND’s 9 favourite restaurants in the neighbourhood. See also: Borough Market, Knightsbridge. Paid subscribers have access to the complete Nines archive.
Andanza (Weston St), cosy corner restaurant w/ Basque-inspired pintxos and tapas, outdoor seating, book