Believe it or not, St John co-founder Trevor Gulliver wasn’t initially convinced by Fergus Henderson’s idea to paint their first restaurant entirely white. ‘I said to him, “I’ll have to go away and have a think about it.” It made me think of the brutalism of the Hayward Gallery in those days.’ Obviously, he came around to the idea, and the bright walls adorned with continuous rows of coat hooks have become one of the pioneering nose-to-tail restaurant group’s many highly recognisable trademarks. ‘It speaks for itself. Fresh,’ he says. Twenty eight years on, the pair are used to coming across copycats all over the world. ‘There are lots of white spaces with black painted doors. It’s very flattering and sometimes very confusing,’ says Gulliver.
Today, we’re sat at a table in the corner of the Smithfield restaurant that inspired a thousand minimalist interiors to chat about the duo’s first opening in more than a decade on Marylebone Lane, a marble table clad, two-storey spot which quietly opened its doors earlier this week. Henderson is dressed in a bold striped suit which he calls ‘my armour’, while Gulliver sports a cosy-looking, eclectic three piece. ‘We were supposed to have matching, but once I saw Fergus in his I thought we couldn’t both wear that.’ Normally Monday lunchtimes are many restaurants’ quietest part of the week, but the space is fizzing with energy. It’s easy to see why budding restaurateurs would want a slice of the same success, conjured by Henderson’s distinctive style of hearty, sustainable cooking coupled with Trevor’s penchant for wine and business-minded brain. These days the duo humbly carry the weight of national treasure status among food fanatics worldwide, which is only further affirmed during this interview, when two people edge over to the table to have their cookbooks signed, multiple selfies are snapped and a man in Miami calls to have a menu autographed and posted his way.
