T
hose fortunate few
who have had the
pleasure of dining at
one of Phil Howard's
restaurants will not be
surprised by the praise
of his latest establish-
ment, which follows. But I urge you to read
on as, having spent time with the man him-
self and sampled his delectable new reci-
pes, a notable shift has occurred.
Previous establishments (the celebrated
Square, for example, where Howard served
as chef-patron for an impressive 25 years,
earning two Michelin stars) may have been
accused of stuffiness, although a little for-
mality has never bothered me in the least.
At Elystan Street, however, the relationship
between diner, chef and staff is gloriously
familiar. One is made to feel not like a cus-
tomer, but like a guest, and an exceptionally
welcome one at that.
So, what is it for Howard that separates
Elystan from his previous offerings?
"As a chef, you do obviously want to cook
for people the food that you want to cook,"
he reasons, "and as a young chef I think that
desire to cook what you want to cook dom-
inates the logic of thinking about what is it
that people actually want to eat. And that's
what this restaurant is about. It's about ac-