The Master Of Minimalism

In 2012, Ollie Dabbous’ eponymous restaurant changed London’s and, consequently the world’s, dining scene with its no-fuss aesthetic and menu, and its five-star reviews. Now, he is planning something even bigger.

- Toby Skinner

Even in London’s frenzied dining scene, few openings have ever been as buzzed about as Ollie Dabbous’ first restaurant, launched in 2012 on such a tight budget that he had to bring pots and pans from home.

In a spartan, central London space that one reviewer noted looked like a car park, Dabbous’ fresh, pared-back dishes had critics salivating into their sourdough-brown paper bags. The London Evening Standard’s Fay Maschler, the hard-to-please grande dame of London restaurant critics, gave it a full five stars—something she’d done only a handful of times.

A Michelin star followed eight months later as Dabbous was hailed as a new culinary messiah who’d appeared out of nowhere to slay stuffy fine dining with his unpretentious enterprise. Soon, it seemed every London opening was about bare concrete, bare bulbs and minimalist small plates—which was good because there was a five-month long waiting list for Dabbous.

So, five years after being the ‘next big thing’, what does a game-changing young chef do next? In Dabbous’ case, the answer is to close the doors of his first restaurant as well as his second, Barnyard, the even more casual Soho restaurant that he had opened in 2014. He’s planning to open a much bigger venture in the spring of 2018, with many of the same chefs and staff that worked at Dabbous, including his business partner, bartender Oskar Kinberg.