Ben Marks is chef and co-founder of Morchella in Clerkenwell and Perilla in Newington Green, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Both restaurants bridge the gap between destination and neighbourhood restaurants, combining inventive modern European cooking with excellent wine lists and warm, friendly service.
You can find Perilla and Morchella on the CODE app at 25% off the total bill.
What’s the most underrated dish on the menu?
Our seaweed bread, It’s a recipe we’ve had since day one. Our old sous chef, Adam Wood, who’s now the head chef of Noble Rot, created it. We gave him the project of coming up with our bread in the two months’ build-up to the restaurant and it hasn’t changed since day one. I think it’s really good – I can say that because it’s not my recipe! So much work goes into it; it’s a real labour of love.
Where do you go after hours?
The Army and Navy, a pub down the road from Perilla. They do a £5.50 Guinness and it’s normally open until about 12 o’clock.
What’s your top London tip?
There’s no better way of getting around London than on a Lime bike. It cuts15 mins off every journey.
What’s the best thing you can do in London with £20?
To go to Durak Tantuni in Tottenham, just round the corner from where I live, for tantuni [Turkish rolled flatbreads with beef]. It’s cash only, so you have to have your £20 in cash. It’s very reasonable; you’d quite easily eat £20’s worth because they’re so tasty.
Where do you go when you want to splurge?
Noble Rot Mayfair. That’s a real treat. It feels bougie just being in Mayfair, I guess. It’s really classy, expert cooking, and it just feels really special without being pretentious.
Which CODE offer are you going to be snapping up?
Sune [50% off food on Tuesday evenings] is a great one. Quite similar to us in terms of a neighbourhood vibe. Great people with a great energy and it’s a great place to be around there.
What’s your favourite thing to cook at home?
At the moment, barbecue. I’ve got loads of really amazing Turkish shops and butchers around me so I’ve been doing a lot of Turkish cooking on the barbecue. I have got quite a good set up in the garden; my brother’s a carpenter so he’s built me an outdoor kitchen. It’s pretty amazing.
Which element of your job do you like most and like least?
I like the creativity of it, how it changes day in, day out. I genuinely find that really exciting and really enjoy coming up with new ideas and developing things. That’s still as fun as it’s ever been. But I hate paperwork. I am notoriously not good at it. Our head chef Ben gets quite frustrated when he goes on holiday because it’s never done properly.
What are your favourite and least favourite ingredients?
My favourite ingredient at the moment is tomatoes. I love tomatoes. I quite shamelessly put them in pretty much everything. It’s been a really good season for British tomatoes as well with all the heat. We use a company called Flourish and they have about 15 different varieties of tomatoes. I like pretty much everything but I’m not a massive fan of really gnarly offal. It’s quite cool to like that stuff but I prefer the less gnarly bits to the gnarly bits if I’m really honest. I’m not a massive fan of brain and testicles.
When you’re not working in a restaurant, or eating in one, where will we find you?
Watching Arsenal play football as much as I possibly can. That and a new baby fills me up pretty good.
Work in hospitality? Start your free trial here and save up to 50% off at 700+ restaurants, bars & hotels.
