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Phil Howard is back in the kitchen. His new restaurant, Elystan Street in London, which he has launched with business partner Rebecca Mascarenhas, is his first project after selling the Square. He talks to Andy Lynes about getting his appetite back
It's early September and the imminent opening of Elystan Street, Phil Howard's first project since the sale ofthe Square to the Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation in March this year appears to be giving people the jitters.
When I arrive for my interview with Howard, the Chelsea restaurant is a building site and there has been no opportunity for the chef to trial his newly recruited brigade of 19 (only 25-year-old head chef Toby Burrowes has survived from the Square). I find him in the roomy basement kitchen, struggling to light the range that still hears the name of Tom Aikens, the restauranf s previous occupant "Where's the fucking blowtorch?* asks Howard of no one in particular, and suggests I wait for him upstairs. I beat a hasty retreat
"It's all getting a little bit frisky," he admits, when we sit down in what will be the private dining room while the building work continues unabated around us. But once we begin to talk, any signs of anxiety fade, and Howard relaxes into the hour-long interview, giving it his full and undivided attention.
Elystan Street is the 50-year-old chef's third project with restaurateur Rebecca Mascarenhas. The pair already run Sonny's Kitchen in Bames, south west London (where they are near neighbours) and the Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 in Kensington. But this is the first where Howard will cook on a regular basis, marking a step change in their business partnership. It's also a watershed in Howard's business relationship with Nigel Platts-Martin, his partner in the Square for a quarter of a century.
"Nigel doesn't have the appetite or desire to open another restaurant, but I'm still a business partner with him and I'm still on fantastic terms with him," says Howard. "I'm still a partner in the Ledbury, but I have no involvement in the day-to-day running. I still speak to Brett[Graham, head chef at the Ledbury] a lot, but he's very much his own man. Nigel plays a very active role there and,...