In the kitchen with fashion’s favourite chef

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Walking into the kitchen at Ellie’s on Kingsland Road, Dalston, I’m met with a scene that dampens my expectations of what a professional kitchen is actually like. I expect carnage and frenzy – this is the first day the trendy cocktail bar is officially serving food. Instead, I’m met with a serene kitchen, laughter, and the sizzling of chicken broth. Nil Mutluer, aka Heal Goblin, wears her chef’s whites as she mixes plum compote. Around the island, Lana Matsuyama, her cooking partner, is popping beef onto skewers.

Nil, a self-taught chef, has swiftly become fashion’s go-to for whipping up innovative and fun dishes. But before catering for Miu Miu parties, and rubbing shoulders with editors, she hosted supper clubs and originally trained as a physiotherapist. ​“I didn’t go to culinary school,” she says. ​“When I came to London from Istanbul to do a masters in physiotherapy in 2016, it allowed me to learn about the body and health.” It was during her time studying that she began to take cooking seriously as a career option. ​“I started my ticketed supper club, then did staging at restaurants, and now I work with Abigail Hill [head chef] and Fennella [sous chef] at Sessions Art Club.”

Nil and Lana are taking over Ellie’s this week. On the menu: essentially a remixing and modernising of dishes the pair have simultaneously whipped up, influenced by Nil’s Persian and Turkish heritage, and Lana’s Japanese roots. The pair, who met at London restaurant Sessions Art Club through a mutual friend, have spent two months workshopping and swapping ideas for this residency. This led to a mighty menu that includes a mixed kebab with chicken, lamb and aubergine, plus two-month-old aged beef that’ll be paired with miso burnt butter, aleppo pepper sauce and umeboshi. ​“How can it get better? We have everything [good] on the plate,” says Nil.

Lana brings out a tray of Manti dumplings, which chefs Bart, Liam and Vinesh have made from scratch. ​“I’ve never seen Turkish-Japanese food served anywhere,” says Lana. ​“The Manti’s were originally a gyoza dish, but we used thin gyoza wrappers with seasoned meat favouring more Turkish flavours. Little things like that overlapped.”

Fashion people often flock to Nil because of her personality – the first time we connected at a Dr Martens dinner, the likes of Suz Pettigrew raved about Nil’s fennel and mushroom broth firsthand, while others told her they screenshot the recipes she shares online. ​“Fashion people want something healing. They want nourishing and healing broths – that’s how I connect with fashion people. Food is so majestic.”