Tomos Parry often seems a tiny bit bemused. Bemused, for example, by the delirious, unimprovable reviews his restaurant Brat has received since opening in a converted pole-dancing bar in Shoreditch, east London, in March. By the fact that people (like me) now expect him to have an overarching philosophy of food and dining. And, perhaps understandably, that he is presently standing in a field in Cambridgeshire, wearing a jacket on a hot afternoon, waiting for a pair of big-bummed, heavy horses, attached to ancient Amish farm equipment, to lumber into position for a photograph.
“The thing is, I don’t really understand how to grow anything,” admits the 32-year-old Parry, originally from Anglesey, looking out over neat rows of leeks, salad leaves and edible flowers. “I don’t really want to be somebody who does everything themselves. I like working with other people: having someone who does charcuterie, someone who does the wine … I don’t understand this chef thing, which is a quite recent phenomenon: ‘Oh yes, we do everything in-house.’ It’s borderline arrogance to think you can make everything yourself anyway.”
Calixta Killander, the 28-year-old farmer who owns Flourish Produce, one of Parry’s vegetable suppliers, cajoles Bill and Ben, the Comtois horses, into shot. (The beasts and the Amish plough are not for show; she believes that they are the most natural, least invasive method of cultivation – and Parry, along with restaurants including Kiln in London and Midsummer House in Cambridge appear to agree.) Then Parry finishes his thought, which is both obvious but is also self-aware and revealing: “I think of my role as bringing everything together on the plate,” he says.
Many people are getting carried away with Brat, which leans heavily on cooking over fire and, very broadly, attempts to apply a Basque methodology to British produce. “The most exciting new restaurant in Europe and home of the best new dish in England for a decade,” wrote the Times’s Giles Coren (the dish, pictured opposite, is chopped egg salad served on rye toast with grated bottarga). In the Financial Times, Tim Hayward predicted that Brat has “the potential to be another St John”. And finally (seriously, there are dozens), the Observer’s Jay Rayner called a meal there: “The edible equivalent of, say, Anthony Hopkins’s performance in The Remains of the Day.”
Unless Parry is as good an actor as Hopkins, he appears unfazed by these raves. He points out that several of the dishes people love in Brat are openly influenced by chefs and restaurants elsewhere. The grilled, whole turbot, for example, cooked over embers in what looks like a metal tennis racquet is a homage to the celebrated Elkano in the coastal town of Getaria.
Perhaps Parry’s most remarkable skill is knowing when to intervene and when to leave extraordinary produce alone. He has spent years perfecting the turbot – “brat” is an old Northumbrian name for the fish, and the last word you’d use to describe its chef – and 18 months going back and forth with a metalworker in Somerset to design the steel clamps. “We probably could have got some from Spain, but where’s the fun in that?” he says. The result, after half an hour at 55C with regular vinegar spritzing, is transcendent: a gelatinous fillet that looks and tastes somehow like dim sum, fins so crisp you can eat the bones.
If Parry seems impervious to hype, that’s perhaps because he’s been through it all before. He came to London from Cardiff, aged 25, and – inspired by Dave Pynt’s Burnt Enz, a pop-up that has now transferred to Singapore and is a fixture on the world’s best restaurants lists – he began barbecuing at Climpson’s Arch in Hackney. The owners of Kitty Fisher’s, an Anglo-Spanish restaurant in a Dickensian courtyard in Mayfair, dropped in, ate some grilled grouse and offered Parry a job pretty much on the spot. That was late 2014, early 2015. “I was already cooking over fire before Kitty’s but they really let me do that,” he says. “In an old Georgian, listed building in Mayfair, that’s a bit mad, to be honest.”
Kitty Fisher’s became known as a favourite of the rich and famous, hosting David Cameron and Brad Pitt. But the clientele, says Parry, was more varied than you might have imagined: “The people who come in there are such eccentrics.” And when he came to set up Brat this year, he wanted a similarly eclectic mix. As ever, Parry took his cues from pinxtos bars in San Sebastian, where food obsessives sit next to fishermen and tourists rub elbows with locals who have been eating there for generations.
“I’m not from Spain, and there’s not many Spanish dishes on the menu at Brat, but I love their approach,” says Parry. “If I’m coming up with a dish, I ask myself, ‘Would you see that in a Basque restaurant?’ It’s always a reference point. I’ve been in many bars where the fishermen take the piss out of the chefs: ‘What are you doing with this? Just serve it simply!’ You can hear them in your head.”
Parry smiles, aware perhaps (or maybe not) that most chefs are more energised by the appraisal of a restaurant critic than an imagined Basque fisherman. “I always think, ‘Would they take the piss out of me for doing that?’”
Six exclusive recipes from Tomos Parry
Chopped egg salad with bottarga
This recipe is inspired by the classic English sandwich filling combined with the pintxos of San Sebastian. It is essential to use very good quality eggs, cut quite chunky, mayonnaise containing a decent amount of dijon mustard, and a salty hit, whether it’s bottarga, anchovies or smoked trout.
Serves 4
For the egg salad
eggs 8 large, organic
cucumber 20g, diced rough and small
celery 20g, diced rough and small
bottarga 140g (or more to taste), grated, plus a few extra slices to serve, or 8 good anchovies fillets
mayonnaise 80ml, homemade or good quality
dijon mustard 10g
fresh horseradish 15g, finely grated
chives 10g, finely chopped
olive oil 40ml
For the pickled shallots
red wine vinegar 25ml
water 25ml
caster sugar 25g
banana shallot 1 tsp, finely diced
To serve
sourdough bread 2 large slices cut in two, toasted or grilled
English sandwich cress 1 small punnet (about 30g)
Boil the eggs for 8 minutes, then lift into iced water.
While the eggs are boiling, make the pickled shallots. Combine the vinegar, water and sugar, bring to the boil and pour over the diced shallot. Allow to cool and set aside. Peel the eggs and roughly chop them, making sure they remain chunky.
Combine all the ingredients for the salad mix and the drained pickled shallot, and adjust the seasoning to taste. Be careful not to overwork the mixture. Once ready, generously spoon onto the grilled bread. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, the English cress and a few slices of bottarga, or the whole anchovy fillets.
Charred green beans, pickled mustard seeds, yogurt and smoked almonds
This works well with many types of organic greens – such as green beans, broccoli, runner beans or leeks. The pickled mustard seeds are great to keep in the fridge all summer long; a perfect condiment for grilled vegetables or meats, or here with the garlicky yogurt. At the restaurant, we grill the beans over charcoal, but a griddle pan also works.
Serves 4
For the pickled mustard seeds
yellow mustard seeds 60g
white wine vinegar 150ml
caster sugar 50g
bay leaf 1
thyme 2 sprigs
water 50ml
green beans 400g, the best quality you can buy
natural yogurt 150ml, the thickest consistency you can buy
garlic 2 cloves, peeled and grated
lemon juice of 1 (around 40ml)
mint 10 leaves, chopped
parsley 10 leaves, chopped
olive oil 2 tbsp
smoked almonds 50g, grated
First pickle the mustard seeds. Place all of the ingredients with a pinch of salt in a pan and bring to the boil. Stir to ensure the sugar dissolves. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, taste and see if you’re happy – you can add more vinegar or sugar. Keep in a sterilised container in the fridge.
Par-cook the vegetables. Place the green beans in salted boiling water for 30 seconds, carefully take them out and lay on a tray to cool naturally, not in iced water, as some of the flavour is lost.
Season the yogurt with the grated garlic, salt to taste and 30ml of lemon juice. It should be punchy and garlicky.
Now that all the elements are ready, place your griddle pan on a medium-hot heat and roughly chop the mint and parsley.
Lightly oil the beans and place on the griddle, turning until they have a lovely char all over. Once ready, place in a bowl, toss with 10ml of lemon juice, the olive oil, salt and the chopped herbs.
Place some of the yogurt on the plate, then the beans, spoon 2 tsps of pickled mustard seeds on each portion, then sprinkle the grated smoked almonds all over the top.
Beef with charred spring onion sauce
By charring the spring onions in a griddle pan at home, it is possible to introduce a smoky and charred flavour to the dish without having to use an outside barbecue for the beef. You can serve the spring onion sauce with many different cuts.
Serves 4
walnuts 30g, crushed
bavette steak 1kg
garlic 1 clove
salt
olive oil 250ml
spring onions 15
cherry tomatoes 5
sherry vinegar 60ml
gherkins 20g, chopped
capers 20g, chopped
chilli flakes 1 pinch
parsley 1 tbsp, chopped finely
thyme leaves ½ tsp, chopped
caster sugar 1 pinch
black pepper
If using an outside grill, it is important to get it fired up early to allow the fire to settle so you are left with the embers. If using a griddle pan, warm it up to a medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
Toast the walnuts on a baking tray in the oven, turning once until golden brown (8-10 minutes). Transfer to a mixing bowl, grate the garlic over the warm walnuts and toss with 5 tbsp of olive oil.
Season the beef with salt and a small amount of oil (no pepper at this stage as it will burn). Cook, turning occasionally, until the thickest part of the steak is 55-60C (medium rare). Once at this stage, remove and place it on a board to rest.
Using the same griddle pan, carefully wipe it clean, then add the spring onions and tomatoes. Cook, turning, until softened. Once soft and with a nice charred colour, transfer the spring onions and tomatoes to a chopping board and chop.
Combine with the walnuts, vinegar, gherkins, capers, chilli flakes, parsley, thyme, sugar and the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Slice up the beef, season with some fresh black pepper, then spoon over the spring onion sauce.
Summer tomato soup
I was first introduced to this dish, based on the classic Spanish cold soup, gazpacho, by my good friend and chef mentor, Grady Atkins. He swore by the addition of Worcestershire sauce, whereas I love the spike of fino sherry. The soup is beautiful by itself, but at the restaurant we serve it with grilled cherry tomatoes and goat’s curd. These are tasty additions, but by no means essential.
It’s worth preparing and leaving it to marinate the day before. The soup does benefit from using a good quality blender, as the vibrancy of the colour is improved by a higher speed blitz, but the flavour will still be the same. The key is to use the best tomatoes, allowing them to get to know each other overnight.
Serves 4
garlic 1 clove, peeled
organic cherry tomatoes 800g, ripe, washed and cut up roughly (keep the vines to use in the marinade)
red pepper 1, diced to roughly 2½cm squaresfresh chilli ¼, sliced, seeds discarded
cucumber ½, peeled and sliced into 1cm pieces
celery heart 1, roughly chopped
lemon juice and zest of ½
sherry vinegar 15ml
medium sherry 20ml
Worcestershire sauce 20ml
extra virgin olive oil 80ml
salt
white pepper
To serve
goat’s curd 1 tbsp (optional), or half and half of feta and cream cheese
First, bring the garlic up to the boil in water and refresh – repeat three times to take away the harshness of the garlic.
To marinate the vegetables for the soup, combine the blanched garlic clove, cut in half, the tomatoes, tomato vines, red pepper, chilli, cucumber and celery heart with all of the liquid except for the olive oil. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge.
Now blend the marinated vegetables in batches. First remove the vines, then blend until very smooth. Only add the olive oil on the final blend. Be sure to scrape in every drop of the marinating vegetables and liquids. Transfer to a bowl and whisk. Add salt and white pepper to taste (it may need some more salt and sherry vinegar, depending on the acidity of your tomatoes). Serve chilled with a dollop of goat’s curd.
Prawns in romesco sauce
This dish is directly inspired by my trips to Spain. While I am with my family in Mallorca, I like to cook this as I can substitute the prawns with many types of meat or fish and it still works well. I will often grill some hake before adding to the sauce, but it works equally well with quail or pork. The sauce can be made in advance so you can give your full attention to the company you are with, drink in hand.
Serves 4
For the romesco
almonds 60g
hazelnuts 50g
olive oil 250ml
white country bread 2 slices, cut into rough chunks
red pepper 1
garlic 2 cloves, peeled and roughly sliced
cherry tomatoes 6
parsley 40g
sherry vinegar 1 tbsp
hot smoked paprika 5g
smoked paprika 10g
chilli flakes 1 pinch
For the prawns
white onion ½, finely sliced
light olive oil
large prawns 8, shell on
white wine 50ml
fish or chicken stock 125ml
To serve
seasonal greens, dressed in lemon and oil
Preheat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Place the almonds and hazelnuts on a roasting tray and roast for 15-20 minutes, enough time for the oils to start working. Leave the oven on.
Gently heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil in a pan and toast the bread until lightly browned. Remove and place on the side.
Place the almonds, hazelnuts, bread, red pepper, garlic, tomatoes, parsley, sherry vinegar, hot and smoked paprika, and chilli flakes in a blender. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
Blend the mixture, gradually adding the remaining olive oil, until fairly smooth.
Transfer the mixture to a roasting tin and bake in the oven until the top is slightly browned and caramelised, about 10-15 minutes.
For the prawns, gently sweat the onion in a little olive oil, with a pinch of salt, until soft, then add the prawns and cook for a minute before pouring in the white wine. Turn the heat up to bring to a quick boil, then immediately pour in the stock and reduce.
Once the liquid has halved, which should take 4-5 minutes, pour in the romesco sauce. Cook on a gentle heat for 8-10 minutes – the prawns should be cooked through by this point.
Serve with the seasonal greens.
Grilled peach and rosemary fool
At Brat, we roast the peaches on the grill, but roasting in an oven works just as well. The recipe only has a few ingredients, but caramelised peaches with savoury yet perfumed rosemary and indulgent cream is a great way to end a summer lunch.
Serves 4
ripe peaches 6
lemon juice 50ml
vanilla seeds from ¼ pod honey 100ml
caster sugar 50g
rosemary 2 sprigs
double cream 600ml
creme fraiche 230ml
icing sugar 40g
Preheat your oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
To peel the peaches, score them with a small cross on the skin, blanch them in boiling water for 30 seconds then transfer to ice water. Let them sit until fully chilled, then peel.
Once peeled, combine them with the lemon juice, vanilla seeds, honey, caster sugar and rosemary sprigs in a bowl, tossing until all coated, then transfer to a roasting tray and bake for 15 minutes.
Once the peaches are very soft, take them out of the oven, remove the stones and roughly crush with a fork. Remove the rosemary and transfer everything else to a bowl, making sure you scrape all the caramelised juices from the roasting tray. Allow the mixture to cool in the fridge.
Whisk the cream, creme fraiche and icing sugar in a bowl until it forms stiff peaks.
Gently mix ¾ of the roasted peach mix into the cream. Be careful not to stir too vigorously as the fool will lose its lightness.
Serve with an extra dollop of the peach mixture on top.
