Chef’s Table: An Exclusive Chat with Emerson Amelio from Oliveira Kitchen

DC: How did you come up with the menu for Oliveira Kitchen?

EA: We don’t really have one menu. Our menu is always evolving, ever changing. When you dine with us once, by the time you come back again there will be a lot of new things. I have no idea what will be in the menu in a month’s time from now. We follow the seasons, see what local farmers are getting out of the soil and bring one or two things from other lands, we throw them together and watch what happens.

Our kitchen is produce driven, we are always on the hunt for something magical, special, such as blue moon radishes produced by Oli of Mora Farm in Cornwall. We love what he does there and how he looks after his soil, the passion he has for farming, his dedication. So we created a dish to this unique product. The same way I admire Sue Proudfoot of Whalesborough Farms, also in Cornwall; anything she does is just brilliant, I created a dish to two of her cheeses. When you have great produce like this, the menu just pops up in front of you naturally.

DC: Is there one particular dish you’re most proud of?

EA: Nope. Never ask that question to a chef. It’s like asking a mother which is her favourite child. In the back of her mind she knows, but she can never acknowledge it out loud. All our dishes are unique to us. I take great pride on what we do, what it represents and how we achieve it. You see, it’s more about the process. 

DC: What inspired you to get into food in the first place?

EA: Food, really. It’s the third most important thing to keep us alive after oxygen and water. Shouldn’t it be our number one preoccupation? Every single human being should be asking themselves every day: How clean is the air I breathe, how clean is the water I drink and how good is the food I eat? I find it fascinating how we care so little to this.

That’s why in my restaurant we only serve organic wines and drinks and the vast majority of our food is from small, local, sustainable farming and some are foraged.

DC: What is it about London that makes it such an attractive place for foodies?

EA: London has always been a city of lost souls. Since its foundations by Romans and Celts, then the arrival of Saxons, Anglos, Normans, later the arrival of folks from the East Indies and the West Indies, and ultimately the arrival from East Europe. London is an ever changing town (a bit like my menu), the whole of humanity is here with its positive energy and creativity. Each of these cultures bring their food, their eating rituals, you can find anything in London. It’s an explorer’s paradise. If you love food, there are few places to be. London is one of them.

DC: What makes your restaurants truly stand out?

EA: Honesty. Authenticity. We cook natural food naturally. Very few restaurants in London do that nowadays. Most of them buy most things ready made. They don’t have chefs anymore, they have “kitchen staff”. They open a pack, heat up its content, and drop it in a plate for you. You pay to have someone to microwave or deep-fry your food. And nobody is complaining. Most of our customers aren’t vegetarians, they love our food just because it tastes better. And when they say that, I just answer: “It tastes nice because it’s just food”.

DC: Which other restaurants really impress you?

EA: There was, until two months ago, a Georgian restaurant near my house, in Putney, called the Georgian Sisters. I didn’t know Georgian food until I accidentally found this place. Two ladies, one in the kitchen and one serving alone on the floor. Simple homemade food cooked with love and care. It doesn’t matter which language you speak, or where you are from, anyone can relate to that. And Georgian wine is superb. Unfortunately one of the sisters fell ill and they had to close as no one could do their food. I do miss them a lot. They are un-replaceable.

Petersham Nurseries in Richmond when Skye Gyngell was there. I liked Marianne (from Marianne Lamb) in Notting Hill, but she closed. It seems most of the places I admired are either closed or the chef is gone. I think I should start going out more and discovering new places. Unfortunately I don’t seem to be able to find time to go out lately.

DC: Which ingredients do you enjoy cooking with most?

EA: Butter. I know, tell me about it. My assistant tells me I no longer have blood in my veins, it’s just liquified butter flowing in them instead. There’s so much that can be done with butter.

DC: Have you got any food that’s your guilty pleasure?

EA:The four most perfect foods humanity has ever invented (after butter) is olive oil, bread, cheese and wine. I can’t live without them. It’s just a pleasure, there’s no place for guilt in my life.

DC: What’s the most exotic thing you’ve ever eaten?

EA: Strawberry. Let me explain. I am from the Northwest of Brazil, near the border with Bolivia, some 52 hours drive from São Paulo, if you don’t stop to sleep. I am from a place that is so far, even Brazilians ask me: “where? People live there?”  It’s really isolated. I was born in the small town of Ji-Paraná and grew up in the main city of Porto Velho, in the State of Rondônia. Actually, when I was born the place was a natural reserve, it wasn’t a state yet. It’s now been turned into a giant cattle ranch and a sea of soy plantation with very little of it being protected nowadays. All of it to feed the world that has grown so enamoured with heavily processed foods and meat.

I grew up on açaí, cupuaçu, jabuticaba, pitanga… all these words you will have no idea what I am talking about. The one thing we didn’t have and for us it was like a myth, stuff from legends with fairies and unicorns, something from a far away land: strawberry. Coming to Europe it was one of the first things I wanted to try. That was the most exotic thing I ate.

DC: If you could invite any three people – dead or alive – to come and eat your menu, who would they be and why?

EA: I don’t want to meet the dead. Their time has passed and I have no curiosity to meet them. I would invite the living. Richard Dawkins would be the first on my list. Sam Harris (the philosopher) and Brian Cox (the particle physicist, I went to see his Horizon show in a London theatre, my wife bought me the ticket as my birthday gift).

Can I bring just three?

I would also love to meet Dr. Becky Smethurst (I follow her YouTube channel “Dr Becky”, she is great, especially when she talks about the Webb space telescope pictures). David Attenborough, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Dr Alice Roberts (The Incredible Human Journey is one of the most amazing documentaries I have ever seen, everyone in the world should watch that, it should be mandatory). Oh… and Bill Maher.