First off, can you tell me a little about your backgrounds, where you originally came from, your family dynamics etc?
LG: I was brought up in Stockport in South Manchester and have one younger sister. Both of my parents worked hard and my dad had three jobs at times, but life was good.
IG: I am a Londoner born and bred, I reckon one of the few left born within the City of London itself! I grew up in Stoke Newington and then my mum and dad moved us out to the suburbs of North East London before high school.
How did you end up working in hospitality? Was it always an ambition?
LG: Ha ha, I was actually asked what I wanted to do for the rest of my life at 13 by the Careers Officer (“no you can’t be a footballer, what else?”)! I didn’t know, so he asked me what I liked to do with my parents on a weekend and I said: “Bake cakes with my mum on a Sunday”. He wrote chef, then ticked the sheet and sent me on my way! So from that day onwards, my ambition was to be a chef…
IG: I studied Catering and Hotel Management at college for three years after leaving school, in the dim and (very) distant past. I then did a two-year stint at Lloyd’s of London in the City, under a management trainee program. They had extensive and varied catering services, from a silver service restaurant (showing my age there) to a wine bar, event spaces and banqueting. It was great experience, and I fondly look back at the valuable time spent learning, and who I worked with there.
Ian, can you talk me through your career trajectory prior to Darkhorse?
Since the early 1990’s, I’ve spent time mostly in Central London working in bars and restaurants. Looking back on it now, it was a heyday for the industry with a fair few places opening and many doing very well. From Champagne-focused city wine bars, to a Michelin starred restaurant in Chelsea working with Stephen Bull and Richard Corrigan. This was before being hired for the launch of the OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar & Brasserie around 1996. I had a great experience during this time, and I stayed for just shy of 20 years. I started as a cocktail bartender, and ended up as Bars Manager with a team of 25. It was a busy place and I was kept very occupied!
Similarly, Lee can you do the same?
I started at local restaurants and hotels around Manchester before moving to Pool Court restaurant in Yorkshire, where Marco Pierre White had worked before moving to London. It gained a Michelin star while I was there, which there were very few of outside of London in 1989. That gave
me the appetite to move to London, which I did in 1990 to work with Terrance Conran, opening Le Pont de La Tour. I then worked at the Capital Hotel with Phil Britten, and the Four Seasons with Jean-Christophe Novelli, before joining Soho House when it first opened in 1995. I stayed at Soho House for nearly 10 years, opening Babington House, Electric House and finally moving to the US to open Soho House New York as Executive Head Chef. It was an amazing experience, after which I returned to the UK to open my own business – a small tapas and wine bar called the Fat Deli in Balham, before selling this after 9 years to focus on the Darkhorse project.
Can you tell me how you first met and how did the idea of opening a restaurant together come about?
IG: Lee and I met through our partners at the time. With London being what it is in hospitality, we had a few friends in common through Soho House and Harvey Nichols. This was before Facebook was invented. We both wanted to do the same sort of thing – open our own place in line with the type of food and drink we both liked, and work for ourselves.
LG: Our partners worked together and we met through them. Also, Ian worked for Harvey Nichols where a lot of my friends worked, so we hit it off. We discussed opening something several times while I had the Fat Deli, but the 2008 recession made us put it on hold for a number of years until the economy seemed to show some improvement in 2012 after the Olympics.
Can you describe your business relationship and what each of you bring to the table?
LG: Both of us are very hands-on and spend a lot of time within the business so it can be stressful, but it works – otherwise I’m not sure we would be in year 10! Ian’s background is front of house, where mine was mainly back of house until I opened my own businesses when that switched. This allows us to see and get a better perspective of the whole business and what’s required from all areas.
IG: Lee is now more administrative, but works with our Head Chefs on menu development and execution. I am more operational and front of house led. We fortunately have great people working with us too.
Darkhorse is now in its 10th year, what do you think is the secret of its success?
LG: We just try to be an honest, local restaurant serving sustainable food and drink that we love ourselves. We have a long-standing, loyal team, which allows us to do that, and creates long-standing, loyal customers as well.
Is it still true to its original concept or has it evolved over the years?
LG: We have evolved like all businesses have to, but we have kept the same identity and with that we have stayed close to the original concept.
Similarly, how have you seen its location on Victory Parade, evolve and grow over this period?
LG: It was opened under the legacy umbrella of the Olympics, as an area for small businesses to prosper. For the first three years, there were lots of interactive events to enliven the area and increase footfall, which was fantastic. Part of the legacy was that all of the village would always be independent retailers, with no chains. We have good connections with lots of the local businesses that have been in the East Village since the beginning, like us. These include Signorelli Bakery and Tina, We Salute You bar – whose team pop in to see us for a few cocktails every now and then.
You clearly have faith in Stratford as you’ve recently opened a second establishment at Stratford Cross, what is it about the area that so appeals?
LG: There’s a great community vibe; a lot of our long-standing regular customers live in Chobham Manor just a short walk from us in the park. Most weeks, you’ll have a good number of them in Darkhorse catching up from one table to another. With the new cultural centre of the V&A, Sadler’s Wells, and BBC Music Studios opening soon this will also create a great atmosphere and generate larger footfall, which will in turn showcase both businesses.
Can you tell me more about Templar, what’s the concept, who are you hoping to attract?
IG: Templar is a relaxed neighbourhood space, which straddles the ground between a wine bar and a restaurant. We showcase a curated list of delicious wines, with a focus on low intervention bottles and many to savour by the glass. To eat, we serve a selection of seasonal small and sharing plates, from a menu that celebrates modern European dishes.
I understand that Richard Sinclair is in charge of the kitchen at Templar. Lee, can you tell me why he was the ideal man for the job and a bit about his style of cooking? Also, how involved have you been in devising the menu?
Employing the right chef in any restaurant is critical. First of all is their hospitality background. Richard had worked in some great places; Pied à Terre for one obviously sticks out. But he has also worked in some very good, local, long-standing restaurants serving great, honest and tasty food. With that you could see he would have a strong attention to detail but also a will to work hard in a small team, like at Templar. His love of food came across right from the beginning.
Being partly a wine bar, I’d imagine that you, Ian, with your background, must have been quite heavily involved in deciding what to stock?
IG: We had worked with our suppliers to source and stock everything on the wine list. The challenge was to find delicious, fantastic wine at a price point we could actually sell it at. We hope further down the line to to be able to offer more iconic wines from the more famous regions too, but obviously these command grander pricing for a list!
LG: Both of us have a great passion for wine, so we have had a lot of fun putting together the wine list with Jonny – our General Manager – who also loves wine.
Obviously it’s still very early days, but how’s Templar doing?
LG: The risk of opening in the early part of the year is a slow start and the economy at present doesn’t help, but we are starting to build a nice customer base here and see more footfall. With summer almost here as well, the Olympic Park comes alive with plenty of events.
Finally, are there any plans to further grow your portfolio or would that involve spreading yourselves too thin?
LG: Never say never, but I think two restaurants should be fine for now and keeps us on our toes.
templarlondon.com
Templar 5 Redman Place, Stratford Cross, London E20 1JQ
thedarkhorserestaurant.com
Darkhorse, 16-19 Victory Parade, East Village, London E20 1FS
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