On Tuesday 28th February and Wednesday 1st March, Aaron Turner from Igni will be joining us in the Lyle’s kitchen. Aaron, who was previously chef at the acclaimed Loam, opened Igni at the start of 2016 in Geelong, just 40 minutes outside Melbourne.
In the nine months since opening, Aaron won Chef of The Year at The Age Food Guide awards, who also named Igni Victoria’s best regional restaurant, and it came in as a new entry in Australia’s Top 100 Restaurants 2016 list, and Eater included Igni in their Top 10 Restaurants in Melbourne roundup.
The no-menu, 30-seater dining room’s kitchen serves an array of dishes and produce of what’s best and available on the day. Guests choose if they either want five or eight courses, and then leave the menu in the hands of the chef, with every table receiving a different combination of dishes.
“There isn’t a menu as such. We create a menu based on a conversation we have with the guests. This allows us to be flexible with small producers and quantities and the guest gets a real bespoke experience – plus we get to have a lot of fun, ” Aaron told Australia’s Good Food Magazine.
The open kitchen is dominated by a charcoal grill, which plays a central role in much of the menu. Chicken skin topped with cod roe, house-made guanciale, Angus beef jerky and suckling pig cooked over charcoal and served with parsley root puree are some of the dishes they have served in the last year.
“ I first heard of Aaron when he was at Loam. It was a small place, and yet everyone was talking about it. I never made it to Australia, but as soon as I heard of Igni I started following it’s progress and wanted him to be part of The Guest Series straight away,” James says about getting Aaron over to London.
The Igni team run a concise and interesting wine list of small producers, so our very own wine guru Nomi is excited about what new wines to bring over and pour especially for these two nights.
The ticket price is £63 for a set menu. MasterCard holders can book tickets from Monday 13th February at 16.00 on Priceless London. Tickets are then on wide release from Friday 17th February at 16.00 on LylesLondon.com
THE GUEST SERIES
Hosted by Lyle’s restaurant in Shoreditch, London, The Guest Series is a way to showcase some of the most talented chefs from around the world. Each dinner will feature a different chef that we think is doing incredible things. For us, this is a way to learn and progress. “I believe that a restaurant should never stand still. We are looking to constantly evolve. The Guest Series gives us an opportunity to see British produce in a new light, and it’s a chance to see what’s happening outside of our London bubble,” explains James Lowe, head chef at Lyle’s. The Guest Series also gives us and our diners a chance to experience some of the world’s best restaurants, without the aeroplane fare.
MASTERCARD PRICELESS LONDON
The Guest Series is produced by Lyle’s in partnership with Mastercard Priceless London. Priceless Cities offers Mastercard cardholders unique and exclusive experiences in over 40 cities around the world. Choose from a huge menu of one-of-a-kind experiences, special adventures, shopping and dining benefits, the best shows and sporting events, hotel upgrades and small perks along the way that make your city adventure a bit more special. Visit priceless.com to register.
LYLE’S
The Guest Series is an event organised by Lyle’s: a modern British restaurant with pared back and ingredient-led dishes. Lyle’s is currently listed at number 65 on The World’s 50 Best, was awarded it’s first Michelin star in October 2015 and voted 9th Best Restaurant in the UK at the National Restaurant Awards in June 2016.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Aaron Turner of Igni, Geelong, March 2017, Tuesday 28th February & Wednesday 1st March 2017
Mathieu Rostaing-Tayard of Café Sillon, Lyon, Monday 24th April 2017
Pam Yung of Semilla, NYC, July 2017