Emile is the first joint venture from Damien Clisby (former chef director of Petersham Nurseries) and Nick Gibson, who owns one of Islington’s best gastropubs, The Drapers Arms.
Emile takes its name from Clisby’s grandfather and focuses on dishes with a Mediterranean influence, serving a menu of sharing plates. It’s a fairly intimate space, seating just 40 diners at both lunch and dinner, while every other Sunday the restaurant hosts a series of feasting lunches, featuring set menus which are served family-style at a single sitting.
The menu changes daily, but you might find dishes such as potato and butter ravioli with porcini, venison loin with kalibos cabbage, plum and thyme, or a sharing dish of pork rib from Paddock Farm for two to three people, finished off with anchovies and capers – exactly the sort of flavour-forward, produce-driven cooking that Clisby specialised in at Petersham.
Desserts, meanwhile, may see the likes of chocolate with hazelnuts and olive oil, while the succinct wine list deals mainly in Old World varieties, ranging from the accessible to those that have been included to thrill oenophiles. By-the-glass wines are also available, thanks to a Coravin system.
Speaking about the project, Nick said: “We’ve been chatting for a while about doing something that would combine Damian’s love of cooking with my passion for wine, and our shared love of hospitality. Emile is exactly that and we’re looking forward to seeing how it evolves.”
Damian added: “I’ve been wanting to get back to doing what I love – hands-on cooking, actually creating, rather than overseeing large kitchens and brigades – for some time, and Emile gives me the perfect opportunity to do just that.”
Emile is initially a six-month project, but if successful, it is likely that the restaurant will find a permanent home either here or in another London location.