Fifteen
Westland Place
London, N1 7LP
Telephone: 0871 330 1515

If you watch the Food Network, then you know who Jamie Oliver is. He's always cooked with a camera in tow. Perhaps this is the reason why the foodie audience is evenly divided into camps that either hate him (jealousy?) or love him (that accent!). After producing books of his favorite recipes and successful TV cooking shows, he started the Cheeky Chops Foundation to help disadvantaged young adults learn the ins and outs of running a restaurant kitchen. The name Fifteen refers to the number of new staff the restaurant accepts each year from a pool of hundreds of applicants.

We ventured out to Old Street the day we were to leave London for a final brunch. The sun was actually out bathing the restaurant in light. The dark wood and pink highlights stood out as soon as we entered the restaurant. It was the end of February, so I started with the gnocchi and oxtail stew, following an Italian tradition to have pasta at the 29th of each month to usher in good luck. It sounds like a hefty dish to eat at noon, but surprisingly, it was just light enough to whet the appetite rather than satiate it too early. Even after a night at St. John [see separate entry], nothing was going to stop me from ordering the grilled rib-eye steak that had been hung for 21 days. Grated horseradish added a pleasant bite. Some bitter purple sprouting broccoli gave me an excuse not to feel guilty about the porcini butter sauce. My boyfriend opted for a lighter dish of seared yellowfin tuna served with spicy caponata. Dessert was a very pleasing pannacotta with soft rhubarb.

For a restaurant that is always getting media attention, there was a notable absence of pretense amongst the staff. Everyone was extremely welcoming and helpful with their recommendations.

Fifteen is the restaurant owned by celebrity chef and super cutie Jamie Oliver of The Naked Chef fame. Two years ago, Oliver decided to give something back to his community. He took 15 young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and trained them to be chefs. Some of these kids were homeless and the others had disabilities, but Jamie believed in them anyway. He took these young kids and taught them how to be a chef. Jamie spends a year teaching these young people how to be one of the best, just like Jaime. Today, Jamie is working with his third group of kids. His students graduate and can stay and work with Jamie in his other restaurants or teach others. And many of them go one to work in some of the finest restaurants in the world.

All the proceeds from his Fifteen restaurant go back into the foundation for chef training. So, when you eat here, you get a great meal and help support a great cause. Some of his students work in the restaurants as well, giving them a chance to learn all aspects of the business in case they want to own or manage a restaurant.

The look and feel of the restaurant is very retro and trendy. The furniture is very sleek and curved, giving it a retro-chic feel. There is chrome everywhere in the bar, and the bar almost takes center stage. On one of the back walls there is a big heart on the wall that looks almost like a tattoo.

This restaurant is considered the cheaper version of his restaurant and is easier to get into than his main restaurant. Since it was kind of a cool day, John and I went simple with soup followed by dessert. I had yummy corn chowder. It was thick, creamy, and chock-full of spices. It has corn, broccoli, and peppers. It was a little hot, but too not to hot, just perfect on a cool day. John went with a tomato soup, but this isn’t your normal Campbell’s soup. This was almost like an Italian soup. I don’t really like tomato soup, but I gave it a try, and it really was good. This had a tomato base (of course) with shredded fresh basil, some thyme, and fresh oregano.

For dessert I had a low-fat raspberry yogurt crepe with fresh berries on top - delish and low calorie. Yeah! John had what seemed to be almost like oatmeal with berries. We rounded off the meal with a pot of tea.

They do take major credit cards. They do not take reservations. And while you’re here, you can pick up some of Jamie’s cookbooks. Everything hit the spot, and I walked away feeling better know I had been able to, in some small way, help someone else. For more information, go to www.jaimieoliver.com or www.fifteenrestaurant.com.

Jamie Oliver, best known as the Naked Chef on the Food Network, created this fine restaurant in order to work with and train 15 interns from his cooking classes. Brad and Jen have been known to stop in and have a bite when in London, and we wanted to do the same. Plus, Jaime is pretty cute. We started with appetizers of salads and an antipasto. All delicious and filling. We all had fish as our main courses, and each one was delicately prepared with a savory vegetable, and a light sauce. We vetoed dessert, but should have gone for it, because each one looked delicious and rich. Expensive and out of the way, means you have to really want to go... but I promise you will not be disappointed. Check out the menu at http://www.fifteenrestaurant.com