10 questions with Ravinder Bhogal

This week, Ravinder Bhogal and Nadeem Lalani Nanjuwany, the husband-and-wife team behind Jikoni in Marylebone and Café Jikoni at V&A East Museum, joined us for the first CODE Founder Series of the year, in partnership with Toast. Bhogal spoke about building a business from scratch, the realities of running restaurants in the current climate, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Here, she shares her favourite London bars, the dish on Jikoni’s brunch menu that will “slap you round the chops”, and where she goes when she wants to splurge.

If you missed last week’s talk, you can join us for our next Founders Series panel, Lessons From A Previous Life, at Shoreditch Arts Club on Monday 9 November, featuring career-changers John Devitt, founder of Koya, Cynthia Shanmugalingam, founder of Rambutan, Ollie Gold, founder of Pophams Bakery, and Ria Morgan-Ratcliffe, founder of Ria’s.

What’s the most underrated dish on your menu?

The chicken larb bun on the new brunch menu at Jikoni. There’s so much that goes into it, people don’t realise. They think it’s just chicken mince in a bun. It’s inspired by a trip I did to Bangkok recently. There are lots of aromatics in it – different types of dried chillies, lime leaves, garlic, galangal, lemongrass. That all gets dried out in a dehydrator, then pounded with toasted rice. Then there’s a dressing with lots of chillies and lemongrass then lots of fresh fragrant herbs, Thai basil, mint and coriander, all folded in it. It looks like an unsuspecting little chicken mince bun but actually it really slaps you round the chops.

Where do you go after hours?

Home to read! But if I do go out, then Bobbi’s Bar at the new St. Clement. It’s so sexy, full of beautiful people – I love people watching – and the drinks are great. I also love the Coburg Bar at The Connaught.

What’s your secret London tip?

The amount of incredible independent bookshops and libraries we have in London. When I was seven or eight and I came to this country in a way there weren’t many resources available for me, so to be able to go to a library and borrow books for free was life-saving. Books change our lives. My favourite London library is probably the British Library.

What’s the best thing you can do in London with £20?

You go to a bookshop like Daunt. Daunt Books is my favourite, purchase a book, buy a good coffee, and walk to the top of Primrose Hill. For me, a book, a great view, and a good coffee, they’re the quiet luxuries of life.

Where do you go when you want to splurge?

I just went to Villa San Michele in Florence, the new Belmond hotel. If I wanted to splurge, I would go back there. It really is one of the most beautiful hotels I have ever stayed at. Sitting there, having dinner in their restaurant on the balcony, you’re overlooking Florence and it literally feels like you’re on a magic carpet floating over Florence. In this crazy age of AI, to witness a city like Florence that was built by hand, made by man, and has lasted centuries and will continue to be here centuries after I’m dead I’m gone, is a very reassuring thing.

Which CODE offers are you going to be snapping up?

A stay at Heckfield Place [CODE members get 25% off stays, from Sunday to Thursday]. I’m a huge fan of the late, great Skye Gyngell. She’s one of my absolute hospitality heroes, she has influenced so many of us and her legacy continues to live through the work that she did. I love Heckfield. I love the spa there.

What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?

Something not too taxing so something like linguine aglio e olio. My version is a little bit of butter, lots of olive oil, then finely chopped garlic, some dried peperoncino and the zest of a lemon. I let it all confit in the oil at a really low temperature so it’s barely cooking and the garlic gets lovely and rounded and soft. I add a bit of pasta water, in goes the linguine, lots of Parmesan, maybe some herbs if I have them. It’s simple and delicious.

Which element of your job do you like most and like least?

The people. Spending time with my team, particularly teaching, but also spending time with our guests. You never know who’s going to be in the restaurant and that’s the joy of it, the conversations you have, the people you touch, the lives you can transform, by taking care of people. What do I like least? I find the lack of government support frustrating, particularly at this time when costs are going up. The people who run restaurants are ultimately generous. We give so much but get so little government support in exchange.

What are your favourite and least favourite ingredients?

I don’t have a least favourite ingredient because there’s always something you can do with an ingredient, that’s kind of my mantra. I’m not big on offal, I have to say; it’s not something I grew up eating but again I wouldn’t say no because I think there’s always something interesting you can do. My favourite ingredient is probably butter, whether it’s ghee or butter. The voluptuousness and velvetiness it adds to cooking, you can’t get that with anything else.

When you’re not working in a restaurant or eating in a restaurant, where will we find you?

Probably at home in my kitchen. I’ve just had a new kitchen put in which I’m very proud of. It is the most beautiful Jaipur pink colour. It’s so warm and cosy and for now, because it’s new, it’s very organised. 

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