Chef Saeed El-Ashkar

Saeed grew up in London where he worked in restaurants and hotels, most notably Covent Garden’s five-star One Aldwych. But it’s his Egyptian background which ignited his passion for developing dishes. He spent a year in Egypt whilst studying at university. It was here where his dishes became heavily influenced by Eastern spices and richer flavours. Once back in London he used this to host his own supper clubs and create a cookbook.

He’s dually inspired by both classical chefs such as Raymond Blanc as well as the ‘grandma cooking’ from the culinary world. His favourite part of the kitchen is larder, where you have to work with the vegetables to extract all the flavour possible.