Ruben Dawnay
Chef: Ruben Dawnay
1. Who Are You?
I am Ruben Dawnay, my cooking journey begins back in 2019. Aged 18, I was coming to the end of school, un-motivated by my subjects and, like many others, lacking real direction.
2. Your Journey
At weekends I worked front of house at a buzzy local pizza restaurant in Brixton Village. In my opinion, Brixton is the beating heart of London; a lively melting pot of culture, characters and cuisine. It was here that an intriguing poster caught my eye… “ WIN A RENT FREE RESTAURANT IN BRIXTON, COME UP WITH THE NEXT BIG FOOD IDEA”. The operators of Brixton Village were running a community competition, judged by professional London chefs, giving locals a chance to launch their very own business with financial support and professional restaurateur guidance. It does sound cliche, but when I saw this, something clicked inside and just like that, I dove head first into a rabbit hole, a hole that I’m still digging, a hole that is… “RUBEN’S REUBENS”.
To tell you the truth, I’d never actually made a Reuben sandwich before. But I thought the name was great, and let's be honest, it’s a delicious sandwich, and one which London was severely lacking at the time. With great enthusiasm and big salt beef dreams I pitched my idea to the competition and awaited a reply.
A couple of months passed before I found out I had been shortlisted. Despite being excited, I was completely terrified… I now had to actually cook a Reuben sandwich for the judges. So, I knuckled down and got to perfecting a sandwich that would truly, excuse the pun, cut the mustard.
The judges loved the food and I soon found myself in the finals amongst three other amazing chefs. Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but it was too late. A seed had been planted, I had purpose and I had a vision!
Exams were finished and it was time to focus on sandwiches. I began hosting evening pop ups in various locations across London, shouting loud and proud about my Reubens. The concept was really gaining momentum and becoming a reality, that was, until covid hit.
Now we were all locked down, markets and pop ups were a no-go. I had to come up with a plan to keep this thing alive. I figured not everyone was going to enjoy cooking three meals a day and would most likely cave in to takeaway temptation. Could I offer an alternative? People weren’t allowed out of the house to come to eat my food, but maybe could I bring it to them?
I decided to fire up my old man’s smoker in the garden and see what I could make. You might be thinking it’s a strange leap to go from sandwiches to smoked meats, but it felt like a very organic move. Without going into too much depth, pastrami is salt beef's sexy, smoked cousin with a beautiful peppery rub. I’d already had a go at making this, so I was naturally keen to explore what else I could throw on the smoker!
I put together my first “ smokin’ lockdown meal kit” and set off on my bike, delivering to all the hungry South London Locals. The food went down a storm and soon I was smoking and
delivering 50 meal kits a week. You can imagine the neighbours weren’t the happiest with the constant trickle of smoke pouring through their windows and we did have a few touchy encounters. Luckily I managed to keep them sweet with the occasional barbecue care package!
As the lockdown was slowly lifted and life resumed back to (near) normality, so did my initial plan for Ruben’s Reubens. The diary filled up with various events, pop ups and residencies, and the smoke continues to rise to this day. I’m currently working with chef Robin Gill of Darby’s, bringing a taste of barbecue to his Nine Elms restaurant.
Experience and collaboration play a huge part in inspiring the flavours, visuals and concepts of my food. Experience can be anything from travels and books to my memories and surroundings. For me, collaboration equals creativity. Putting two food loving minds together can be deliciously dangerous. For example, one of our signature dishes is our “Hot honey pork belly burnt ends”. This came about from a collaboration with a local hot honey producer and my deep love for pork belly. It hits all of the tasting notes: sweet, spicy honey, tangy bbq sauce, soft succulent smoky pork and crunchy salty puffed pork skin. It’s a real winner!
When we opened our 6 month Brixton Village residency back in 2023, we had a textbook nightmare. The doors opened, the masses entered and orders flooded in. The sandwiches seemed to be taking forever to toast, until we realised it was because we’d lost all of our power. I was running back and forth through the restaurant to flip the fuses. Absolute chaos. Luckily people were patient and understanding, although there were quite a few drinks on the house that night. I took it as a lesson: don’t underestimate the usefulness of a soft launch (which we had decided against that night). A small opening discount can really help if there are any hiccups with a launch.
There seems to be a trend towards making a meal much more of an experience. Music, comedy and fashion all seem to be playing more of a part. I’ve cooked at a few of Robin Gill’s Bloodshot supper clubs which are essentially after hours parties that begin with a mighty music-filled feast, and finish with people dancing on tables…wild, delicious and very, very fun!
4. For the Readers
My approach to food in three words would be: smoke, punchy and pickles! Smoke because, well, It's hard to stop me from trying to smoke everything. Punchy, because I think food should really shock the taste buds (in the best way). And pickles, because I LOVE pickles and I think they play a role in pretty much every dish.
I’d love to have my own place one day but for the time being I’m enjoying being a sort of Nomad restaurant! Hopping from site to site, residency to residency, meeting new people, creating new menus and learning all along the way.
