The highly creative British chef also shares why he prefers not to eat at fine-dining restaurants and what he misses most about Hong Kong
Much like Ikoyi’s indefinable cuisine, it seems juvenile to use one, two or even three, words to describe Jeremy Chan as a chef. Chan, the son of Chinese-Canadian parents, was born in the UK but grew up between Hong Kong, Canada and the UK before graduating in philosophy and languages at Princeton in the US and briefly working in the financial sector in Europe. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long for him to realise that his interest in different cultures was pointing towards the world of gastronomy instead.
Having cut his teeth with culinary greats including René Redzepi and Heston Blumenthal, Chan opened Ikoyi in London with childhood friend Iré Hassan-Odukale in 2017, accumulating accolades and acclamation (two Michelin stars and #49 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants) as they developed their own culinary identity that is often described as spice-driven around British micro-seasonality, in reference to slowly grown vegetables, sustainable line-caught fish and aged native beef.
Now, after a relocation and redesign (by Danish architect and designer David Thulstrup) last year, Ikoyi is at a new stage of its evolution. As is Chan, who will debut his first book, a monograph titled Ikoyi: A Journey through Bold Heat with Recipes on April 6, 2023. We took a moment with the chef while he was in Asia, as he collaborated with another talented chef, Mingoo Kang of Mingles in Seoul, to chat more about his developments.
In your own words, how would you describe Ikoyi to someone that hasn’t had the chance to visit yet?
Ikoyi is a restaurant that works with hyper-seasonal ingredients. We pay a lot of attention to detail and sourcing and we use a lot of different spices and beautiful types of aromatic ingredients to season our dishes.
When you opened Ikoyi six years ago, there were many that were quick to label the cuisine as West African-influenced. What are your thoughts on these labels or cuisine categorisation in general?
I guess people just need to do that to have control over something and I found that quite restricting, but I dealt with it and just focused on what I'm doing. Eventually, we triumphed and managed to take control of our own narrative. But I understand why people need labels, as it helps people understand. I think when you're trying to market or sell something, or when you're trying to describe something to someone, you need to be able to call it something so it's natural for people to do that but a little frustrating as well.
Given your background, are there any other influences or cultural elements in your cuisine?
There have always been elements of anything and everything in my life. Since day one, I've just been doing what I feel is right. I don't really keep track or I'm not even aware of where things come from. I just do them based on instinct and my feelings towards particular ingredients, and whichever influence takes control at that given moment, is just something I decide on the spot. It's not something that I do intentionally, it's very natural.