Ollie Dabbous: 'I’m a better chef now than when I opened Dabbous'

Cooking up a storm: Ollie Dabbous opens his new restaurant Hide this week

The “kitchen rock star” who took London by storm six years ago says he is a better chef now as he prepares for a high-pressure return at a new restaurant on Piccadilly.

Ollie Dabbous, who launches Hide on Tuesday, went from virtual unknown to London’s hottest ticket within weeks of opening his eponymous venue in Fitzrovia in 2012.

Dabbous, now 37, won a Michelin star eight months after opening, a rare five-star rating from the Evening Standard critic Fay Maschler, and ran a dining room that was fully booked for months in advance.

He closed down Dabbous and a second venture, Barnyard, last year. He told the Standard that he was prepared for the expectations that would come with “that difficult third restaurant.” He said: “I think I’m a better chef now than when I opened Dabbous. Less is going to come as a surprise, and after all, you only get discovered once. I’m thicker-skinned and I’ve got a few more grey hairs.

"Over time you’ve seen every problem that’s going to occur, so when it happens it’s much easier to take on the chin. You run out of scenarios that can happen for the first time. Six years ago it would be a big drama — whether the news was good or bad — but I’m more battle-hardened now. There will be a time when a delivery doesn’t come in, or the electricity fails — s*** happens.”

The budget for his first restaurant was so tight that he used his own pots and pans from home. He said he had no regrets about leaving behind the cramped venue, which created logistical and staffing issues, for Hide.

Fay Maschler's 50 favourite restaurants in London

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It has three levels, called Below, Ground and Above, and sweeping views of Green Park. He is taking a small selection of signature dishes over to the all-day venue, including his famed “nest egg” of coddled egg, smoked butter and mushrooms. The £95 set menu features 11 courses, including raw tuna with prickly ash and Exmoor caviar.

He said: “I don’t think about the pressure, when you are preparing food you don’t think, ‘When is the Michelin star going to come?’ you just think, ‘Am I happy with this, is it good enough?’ All the accolades are a happy by-product of getting the best from yourself.”

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