#Braised Lamb in minted gravy buy

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Bold flavours

JD’s Kitchen at Rye Wax serves Mediterranean-style food with an emphasis on comfort, flavour and affordability. Owner Jonathan Dunkerley tells us why it’s all about strong flavours and simplicity of ingredients

As told to Kate White; Photo Tristan Bejawn

I first came up to London to do photography and I studied at LCC. I started cooking to make some money and it just kind of snowballed.  

I was at Artusi for about three years, pretty much from the beginning, and was senior sous chef by the end. Before that I was at Hawksmoor, at Foxlow, their venture in Farringdon. I was there for the opening and I was CDP, chef de partie – doing desserts and starters.

On my days off from cooking I was working at Phonica Records, which is kind of the main record shop in Soho. I wanted a bit more free time so my initial plan was to sell food on a market stall and make a big amount of money on the weekends, but that didn’t work out.

I would go in and buy records at Rye Wax and I knew Taco Queen, who were here before me. I found out they were leaving, so I approached Tom, the manager. I opened JD’s Kitchen in August.

Running this place is great – it’s nice being my own boss. It’s a really good spot, although there was a flood just before I started which meant it was shut for two months, so we’re trying to build it up again a bit.

We do slow-cooked meats, pork belly and meatballs in subs, really special subs. We do small plates as well. Today I’m making a minestrone soup with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side, and a braised squid and olives dish with sourdough.

In the evenings I’m trying to introduce more platey dishes rather than just sandwiches. We’re doing a rolled lamb shoulder with polenta and mint. I guess you could say it’s still retaining some of the Artusi flavours but it’s a bit more comfort food and sort of, bar-style food.

We’re not defining ourselves by doing just one thing, so it’s harder to maybe break through a bit more, but I think we’re getting there, and people are really surprised at the flavours they’re getting for the price in a space like this. It’s quite unique in a way I guess.

It all basically stems from Italian cooking and the simplicity of it. I like bold flavours, a lot of salt, rich gravies. I don’t really hide behind anything. I like everything to be slightly over the top with flavour.

The menu’s come back to its roots a little bit. I got slightly carried away at one point and went a bit Lebanese, doing Lebanese stew, lamb kofta, tofu, but I reined it back in a bit. I think we were losing a bit of identity, so I’ve kept it more Mediterranean. Affordable eats with maximum emphasis on comfort and flavour is our little tagline at the moment.

I get my meat from Flock and Herd, it’s New Covent Garden for the veg and Khan’s for my dried stuff, for spices and things like that.

I get my bread from Rinkoff, a Jewish bakery in Whitechapel. They’re called hot dog rolls but they’re almost bagel-like in style. They’re really great. I wouldn’t be able to do this without them to be honest – it’s really created my identity.