Former Nopi head chef Ramael Scully to open first restaurant next month
Ramael Scully, former head chef of Ottolenghi's Nopi, will open his first solo restaurant, Scully, in London's St James's Market on 1 March.
The restaurant will reflect Scully's diverse heritage, from his childhood home in Malaysia to the kitchens in Sydney where he trained and his travels in the Middle East, Russia and Europe.
Scully began working with the Ottolenghi team in Islington shortly after moving to Britain in 2004. He moved to Nopi as head chef when the restaurant opened in 2011 and remained at the helm until last year, cooking alongside Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.
Scully has been backed by the Ottolenghi family, with Yotam commenting: "Chef Scully has an insatiable appetite for bold flavours and irreverent blends of ingredients; his kitchen is an exciting and unexpected place to be and I am thrilled he will be continuing his journey by opening his own restaurant and having full creative reign over his own menu, creating unique and extraordinary dishes."
The restaurant space will echo Scully's personality, offering diners an open, relaxed and informal space with natural wood finishes, duck-egg blue furnishings and grey marble surfaces.
As guests enter the restaurant they will be greeted with wooden shelves storing an array of brightly coloured jars holding pickles, syrups, shrubs, preserves, fermented fruit and vegetables. The jars' contents are produced by Scully and his team, providing the foundations of his menu.
Scully's menu will feature dishes including baby beetroot jerky and green cardamom cream; crispy corn biscuit, eggplant sambal and bergamot cream; grilled octopus, salt baked avocado and black garlic as well as crispy pork hock, Brussels sprouts sambal with lime and beer mustard.
The 1,800sq ft restaurant will include an open kitchen, large sharing table, a counter-dining area with bar stalls and banquette seating.
There will be a bar area close to the entrance which will serve a selection of wines from East London supplier Newcomer Wines. There will also be a regularly changing cocktail menu.
The restaurant will take bookings as well as accepting walk-ins.
Former Nopi head chef Ramael Scully to open first restaurant >>
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