Phil Howard, Elystan Street: Stripped back Michelin dining in Chelsea

Experienced restaurateur Phil Howard knows how to deliver exactly what people want.

By his own admission, Phil’s restaurant Elystan Street is “a pretty honest product” and “nothing too fancy”.

“Elystan Street is an expression of the kind of food that I want to cook, that I want to eat,” said Phil.

“We serve it in a dining room and with a team of lovely people in a way that I think Londoners and people who want to eat out want to experience.”

Age and experience have created this confidence in Phil, who exudes a calming presence across his kitchen and restaurant.

Now aged 59, Phil started out training with the likes of Marco Pierre White at Harveys and under Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum.

He would go on to co-found The Square in 1991 with Nigel Platts-Martin, which held two Michelin stars for most of its time, before Phil sold it in 2016.

Phil then opened Elystan Street in Chelsea later that year, with “force of nature” business partner Rebecca Mascarenhas, which itself earned a Michelin star in 2017, which it has since retained.

South Africa-born Phil also has involvement with Kitchen W8 and pasta restaurant Notto.

Phil Howard's evolution, in and out of the kitchen

“In life you go on a journey and certainly as a human being, as an eater and as a restaurateur and as a chef, we evolve,” Phil explained.

“What we want to do evolves, what we want to eat evolves and what we want to cook evolves.

“All creative people have an ego. I think in the earlier years of my career, whatever ego I had was used up on showing the world what I could cook. And I think as you get older, you get to a more honest place.

“Certainly now I think I have a really clear understanding of where the pleasure lies in a plate of food and we strip things back and serve simple food in a way that people want.”

He added: “Balance and refinement and honesty, it's quite a tricky equation to balance. My food even in the Square days, it was never that technical. It was never that precise.

“There are some chefs who are much more particular about the exactness of their food on the plate.

“My food has always had a looseness to it, which is an easier starting point.

“But I think in the end, this is as an eater, there's two things. One, I'm just done with worrying about things on a plate, like is the chervil wilting? I just don't want to have to give a fuck about that kind of thing anymore.

“In the big scheme of life on my single experience on this planet, that is just not something I want to have to worry about anymore.

“So that kind of detail and fussiness, there's a lot of cell in my body that gets off on that or wants to be involved with that kind of cooking anymore.

“And as an eater, and I've always felt this, but now I'm in a better place to kind of express it for want of a better term, you never know when you the next thing is going to go get put in your mouth that's going to really blow you away.

“If you stop and acknowledge those moments, which come not that often, 99 times out of 100, it's actually going to be a very simple thing that's on your fork or spoon.

“It's going to be probably a perfect piece of something solid, probably a protein, with some delicious sauce or dipped in a puddle of puree or ketchup, whatever it is.

“Once you acknowledge that and you realise that the real pleasure comes from an impeccable ingredient, respected and cooked simply and just with the appropriate something to go with it, it kind of frees you up to then cook much simpler food.

“Impact comes from epic ingredients cooked well, but refinement does contribute to the experience.”

The Role of Teamwork: Michael Olive and Sarah Rhone’s Impact

Phil’s approach is something he conveys to any potential staff who want to come on board at Elystan Street.

“I don't want somebody coming to work at Elystan Street because they think they're going to get some multiple Michelin star experience and I’m going to come in with a big white hat on,” he said.

“At the end of the day, half the world is starving, and we’re in the privileged bit that has got some food.

“Ultimately, it's only food. We do all come bouncing down the stairs in the morning enthused to cook, but it's only food.

“We want to just give people pleasure who choose to walk through our door rather than somebody else's. We want them to walk away happier than when they walked in thinking, bloody hell, what a great place Elystan Street was.”

Phil still spends plenty of time in the kitchen, but many of the services are now led by head chef Michael Olive. Front of house also plays a huge role in the success of the restaurant, down in no small part to operations director Sarah Rhone, who Phil speaks glowingly about.

“In the 35 years I've been working, she's one of the most able and wonderful people that I've had the pleasure of working with,” he said.

“Young, dynamic, inspired, amazing leader, great team player, looks after people, disciplines people - she's the complete deal.

“And they don't grow on trees, those kinds of people. She is top dog.”

He added: “It is all about the team. I've been saying it's about the team for years and years.

“You have to build a team that can keep a restaurant thundering along seven days a week. And once you've got a team and a restaurant that's got momentum, actually, that's the liberating bit.

“It means that any single person, me, head chef, GM, we're not reliant on any single person. So that's really important.

“I still have my finger completely on the pulse with the food. I think my most valuable contribution to any of the restaurants I'm involved with is the menu. I've got a good palette.

“All sorts of character traits are required to make a great chef. I'm missing lots of them, but I do have a good palette. I like cooking food that gives pleasure, nothing more than that.

“I think I write a good menu with good dishes. You then need a great team to execute them.

“Michael and I talk about food. He's really come of age at Elystan Street.

“He's worked here for a long time, went away, has come back, so he understands the food at Elystan Street really well.

“He's really informal. I also really like that. I don't want any strict disciplined kind of kitchen. And underneath him now we have a tight team.”

Classic Flavours, Fresh Presentations

In terms of the food itself, Phil tends to lean into classic combinations on his menus, such as current options like duck paired with fruit, beef and horseradish, or blackcurrant cheesecake.

“As the seasons change, on the one hand I like drop back onto old favourites,” he admitted.

“But equally every year I try and think with a fresh approach. But the reality is, at my age, given that not a cell in my body is interested in trying to reinvent the wheel, flavours are classical.

“In my opinion, they are the most harmonious and they give the most pleasure. But there's always ways to present them, interpret them or cook them.

“So every year I do try and do a bit of both.”

Summing up what he wants the experience to be like at Elystan Street, Phil said: “We've got to make sure that people can just swan through the door and chill out, have some great food, get looked after and walk out with a smile.”