The modest subtitle of Honey & Co's debut cookbook, Food from the Middle East, published this month, doesn't begin to capture the richness and variety of the recipes – sardines cured in vine leaves, oxtail sofrito, their celebrated feta and honey cheesecake. But it's not just about the superb dishes: the book also captures a sense of place, bottling the personality of the tiny, 10-table restaurant on London's Warren Street that won last year's Observer Food Monthly award for best newcomer. "It was surprising to us how much it developed into a community rather than a workplace," says Sarit Packer, who co-owns Honey & Co with her husband Itamar Srulovich.
More than anything, Honey & Co is about Sarit and Itamar, their warmth and humour and skill, as well as the deep love of food that drew them together. They met 10 years ago when Itamar started working at a Tel Aviv restaurant where Sarit was sous chef. She was the organised one ("a war machine with a Bolshevik work ethic," in his words), whereas Itamar was a bit of a dreamer. Was he a good employee?
"He was horrible!" she says. "Always late. Messy beyond redemption. He was a beach bum with an occasional job." According to Sarit, it wasn't immediately obvious they were going to be a couple. "It took us a while," agrees Itamar, "but she makes a very bad first impression – she's very standoffish."
"Very professional, I prefer to call it," says Sarit.
Their relationship saw them through a decade's graft in London kitchens (including the Oxo Tower and Ottolenghi) and then the much greater stress of opening their own place. The book was written during the restaurant's first 12 months of business, a period they say was chaotic. There will be a follow-up, focusing on baking and patisserie, and Itamar has a long-standing dream of opening a kebab restaurant. But there will, they say, be only one Honey & Co. "It would be nice if this place becomes an institution," Itamar says. "Just somewhere that people will come back to again and again, for years to come," says Sarit, completing his thought.
• Recipes from Honey & Co's cookbook, Food from the Middle East