London Guide: Chef Jordan Bourke

For creative inspiration, there are few cities more exciting than London, but it’s pretty vast. In the fourth of our five-part series, we asked a handful of design-minded Irish folk, who have embedded themselves there, like Jordan Bourke, to take us on a tour of their favourite haunts.

MEET – Jordan Bourke
CHEF, STYLIST & COOKERY WRITER @jordanbourke

I have been living in London for more than 12 years now, which I find hard to believe. The notion that in only seven years’ time, I will have been living out of Ireland for as long as I lived in the country is a very strange concept. I still feel 100 per cent Irish, though, and identify more with the Irish temperament and sense of humour, but I do love it here all the same.

For the food, design and atmosphere, I love The Palomar (below) and The Barbary, two sister restaurants in Soho and Covent Garden respectively. They both serve a delicious mix of Israeli and North African sharing plates, as well as some killer cocktails. Both restaurants have open kitchens, surrounded by a high bar with stools. This is my favourite place to perch, the stools are properly comfortable and, as a chef, I love to see the kitchen in action.

One of the best food markets in London has to be the Druid Street Market in Bermondsey. It’s open every Saturday, 10am-4pm. This is the place to discover some of the most exciting new food start-ups in London. I never come away disappointed.

For elegant, unfussy tableware, you can’t beat David Mellor‘s flagship store on Sloane Square. Their covetable range features everything you could possibly need for a kitchen or dining room setting, plus a load more you absolutely don’t need, but simply must have. While Labour and Wait (Redchurch Street, feature image) and Jasper Morrison (below), both in East London, have a very cool range of kitchen essentials, such as design-led coffee percolators and mugs.

My current brunch obsession is the The Good Egg in Stoke Newington; the best lazy brunch I’ve had in London this year by far. Unfortunately, most of the city agrees with me, so you will certainly have to queue, but it will be worth it. It is also open for dinner if an early morning queue is too much to bear.