The Palomar: A Culinary Gem in Soho
This year marked 11 years since the opening of The Palomar. Like many iconic London restaurants, it reinvented itself several times over its days on Soho’s Rupert Street. There were the early days, patroned by Assaf Granit, during which The Palomar Cookbook (Authored by Mitchell Beazley) was published.
For the last two years, Scottish Chef Dan Murray has been at its helm, keeping the menu evolving, still on its Mediterranean course. We sat down with Dan to talk about his beginnings in Glasgow, his years with Ottolenghi, taking over a restaurant that is such a household name, and his working relationship with All Greens.
On a sunny June afternoon, I found myself by the bustling terrace of the Palomar. I headed in, greeted by their signature neon sign and quickly started shooting. Even as the hours passed, the kitchen stayed constantly busy. Dan and his team, expertly crafting dishes from their summer menu as I was snapping away along the long counter seating that the restaurant’s patrons will be familiar with.
We took advantage of a short break in the flow of customers to talk upstairs in Dan’s office.
Tristan: So, Dan, when did you first get started in the kitchen?
Dan Murray: I would have been 16, 17 years old. I knew a bistro in Glasgow had opened, and they were looking for a KP [kitchen porter], so I applied for the job, and I think that’s the first time I fell in love with kitchens in general. I’m nearly 40, so it’s been a while.
T: What has led you here as to become head chef of the Palomar?
DM: There’s been a lot of kind of different curves along the way. As I said, I started in a bistro, and then they opened a bakery, to supply the bistro. So, I started doing bread, I became a baker for a while. And then I was running the kitchen at the bistro, doing that for a few years and then moved to Australia, worked in Australia for a bit. It was more just a holiday with work.
I then came back to Glasgow and was kind of unsure of what to do next. And an Ottolenghi pastry chef application kind of went past me and I thought, you know what? Why not? Ottolenghi had been something that I had grown up with my parents following his Guardian articles and stuff like that. I went just on a whim, from Glasgow I moved to London and I started working with the Ottolenghi group.
I started on pastry for two or three years and then moved to the savoury after meeting [Ramael] Scully and Calvin [Von Niebel], who are incredible chefs, I kind of admired them. They taught me the ropes and once I got into the savoury side of things, that was where I’d wanted to go and I moved through the Ottolenghi group, in various different positions. It eventually took me to Rovi. I know that Ottolenghi have always had a really good relationship with All Greens. I think it was his local greengrocer. So, for us, it was just our normal, natural fruit and veg supplier, you know?
From the Ottolenghi group, the opportunity came up to take over as head chef of the Palomar and join the Paskin group. And I haven’t looked back, time flies, but I think it’s probably coming up on two years. I think the Palomar was going through quite a transition. It’s been open for 10 years. It’s an established site that a lot of people knew, annd didn’t necessarily think of as a kind of fresh restaurant. You know, it’s a staple rather than anything else. So, they wanted to refresh things a little bit. I came in and along with the team, built almost a new identity in terms of how the menu is executed and what we’re serving and the style of service, and that’s why I brought All Greens with me from Rovi because I have a really good relationship with Rhys and I think Rhys understands what I like, so, it makes the job much easier.
T: How has it been for you, taking over a restaurant that is a household name in the London food scene?
DM: It was a tough start, you know, the change is never comfortable for a lot of people and so it took time for everyone to kind of readjust. It’s a challenge any time you come into an established restaurant, even if it’s been around for just a year. But the Palomar with its strong identity, I came in, knowing that I needed to respect the establishment, but also put my own identity in it.
It’s been a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and I can’t count how many things I’ve learned over the past three years. And it’s a supportive restaurant group. You know, they’re incredibly helpful in every way, so yeah, without the normal pitfalls of being a chef, it’s been a breeze.
T: How would you say that your relationship with All Greens inspires you to come up with recipes?
DM: One of the things that I brought with me that maybe had been slightly lost at the Palomar was the hyper seasonality and really focussing on what is available to us right now. And to be as close as possible, you know, to the restaurant. All Greens understood that relationship because at Rovi, with my old head chef Neil, we established that the seasonality and the veg focus and I brought that with me here too.
I think All Greens understands what the expectation is and they understand what it is we like. If there’s anything that Rhys gets excited about, he’ll contact me to let me know, or I’ll be kind of checking their market reports and checking what’s seasonal and the good thing about London right now is the communication with farmers is so much easier than it used to be. Having direct contact or two steps of contact from the farmers is perfect. It makes my job a lot easier to use things that are in season whenever they are.
As we finish the interview, it’s already time for the beginning of the dinner service, Dan gets ready and heads back downstairs for the busy night ahead.
If you want to read more interviews with chefs or our market reports, click this link to see all our blog posts! https://allgreens.co.uk/blog/
If you also would love to taste the amazing things that Dan is dreaming up, click this link to go to their website! https://thepalomar.co.uk/
Photos courtesy of Tristan Benhamou
