Internationally acclaimed chef Roy Ner is relatively new to the London restaurant scene, having arrived in July 2021. Acclaimed in Australia, where he spent 18 years establishing his culinary credentials and enjoying a life-long passion for food and drink, he turned his sights onto London when he opened his Mayfair Mediterranean restaurant, Jeru, in the winter of 2021.
Jeru offers a restaurant with an open kitchen and chef’s table, crudo station and Jeru fish market. Downstairs, Layla at Jeru offers refreshing cocktails, light bites and sharing platters in a vibrant and chic environment accompanied by a live DJ from Thursday to Saturday. Jeru also boasts its own bakery, serving freshly baked bread, salads and cakes during the day for customers to eat in or takeaway. Early evening, it morphs into a wine bar offering light bites and small plates complemented by vintage finds from around the world.
By the late autumn of 2023, Roy launched two additional private dining spaces on an upper storey of the building, marking the end of a sensitive two-year transformation. Formerly offices, the addition of this third floor makes Jeru Mayfair’s one of the largest restaurants, with over 1,400 square metres of beautifully designed dining space showcasing both the design and the cuisine of the Mediterranean.
An exceptional Cordon Bleu-trained chef, Roy has a lifelong passion for all things gastronomic and is known for experimenting with innovative new flavour combinations and textures drawn from his eclectic heritage. His mixed heritage has exposed him to myriad exotic tastes, herbs and spices from the North African region and the countries circling the Mediterranean Sea. He particularly loves to highlight flavours from traditional and modern cooking, blending cultures and ingredients together to showcase a unique culinary style based on a variety of cooking techniques. His recipes are based on grilling, roasting, long bread fermentations, and ageing ingredients using various methods, from chocolate wet-aged beef to dry-aged vegetables, from koji to fenugreek spice. He also seeks out the more flavoursome exotic herbs and spices to celebrate raw ingredients.
Chef Roy enjoys creating a wide range of wholesome, welcoming, and tasty vegetarian dishes, as well as a treasure trove of seafood-based and aromatic meat-based dishes. We sat down with the talented chef to find out more about his exciting career, his inspirations and why chocolate-fed Wagyu is his favourite ingredient to work with.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, including where you are today, professionally, and what got you here?
My cooking career began in Australia, where I worked for over 18 years in the kitchens of ARIA in Sydney before branching out on my own to create Nour Restaurant alongside a Sydney local group. From there I moved to America to expand my culinary repertoire, before returning home to Australia to open ZaZaTa in Brisbane. In 2021, I moved to London to open Jeru, a Mediterranean restaurant in Mayfair, which offers everything from a bakery to a brunch area, a restaurant, and well-appointed private dining areas.
What or who inspired you to become a chef?
Food was always a central focus for our family when it came to getting together and my grandma, Camila, was particularly renowned for her cooking skills. I have fond memories of assisting her in preparing her legendary feasts, which certainly helped get me into cooking.
Who has been your biggest influence to get you to where you are today?
I had a lot of professional chefs for whom I worked, and they guided me through my career. But the greatest influence of my heritage is the fact that food is enjoyed in a family environment and in abundance.
What’s your signature dish?
There are a few, but the wood-fired potato bread with chickpea miso butter and truffle honey served at Jeru is especially popular. It’s a real labour of love, born from our deep understanding of the bread and Koji fermentation. I am also told we have the best savoury doughnuts in London.
What are the most important considerations when crafting your menu?
A true understanding of the guest’s experience at the table.
Do your personal preferences influence the menu at all?
It’s my menu and my inspriation comes from my heritage. Celebrating the proudce seasonality is at the true heart of Jeru.
How would you describe your cooking style?
In Australia, I became known for modern Australian cuisine, which involves utilising French cooking techniques alongside Asian influences and Australian dishes to produce flavoursome dishes. At Jeru we specialise in Mediterranean food, in which I take a similar approach of incorporating French and Asian cooking techniques infused with the umami flavours of Moroccan and North African cuisine.
Do you have a favourite time of year or set of ingredients that you look forward to working with?
The summer, when the flavours become light and punchy. I particularly love cooking dishes that showcase the restaurant’s fish market, such as crudo, and light vegetable-forward dishes.
What is your favourite ingredient to create with?
I’m an ambassador for Australian Beef, which is just truly incredible. We have chocolate-fed Wagyu on the menu at Jeru and it’s just sensational.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?
An architect – something that challenges me creatively and is also quite technical.
What is your favourite dish to cook at home?
My favourite dish to cook at home is my mum’s stuffed peppers – it’s one of my favourite dishes and it reminds me of home. Lamb and beef fat, mixed with rice and vegetables, with a celery infused tomato sauce.
When are you happiest?
In the kitchen!
What is your favourite piece of kitchen equipment?
My Japanese chef’s knives.
When you’re not in the kitchen where can you be found?
I’m obsessed with my work, I’m rarely out of the restaurant, I love being part of the chef community.
What’s your favourite takeaway or comfort food?
Asian – I love dumplings! I try to avoid eating too many takeaways, but anything with bold Asian or North African flavours makes me happy.
Where is your favourite place to dine?
Notting Hill is a scene at the moment. I adore Barafina1! I enjoy Kiln enormously – I love the intimate setting and they consistently serve up great food.
What do you think is the most over-hyped food trend?
I am all about flavour – presentation is important but it’s about flavour – creating dishes for Instagram without flavour substance needs to go.
What differences do you find working with local produce as opposed to non-local produce in terms of what you can create and flavour?
Everything, the food programme we have in the restaurant is carefully considered and we want to support food programmes where we have a deep relationship with the supplier – we know how the food is grown and where it comes from.
How do you go about menu planning? What’s the process from picking the ingredients to getting them fresh into the kitchen and into dishes?
After 20 years in the kitchen, I really understand the seasonality and availability of produce and learning how to cook through the season and not just what is available.
How would you describe the food you create at Jeru to someone who’s never experienced it?
At Jeru we specialise in Mediterranean food, fusing fine dining cooking techniques with Moroccan and North African flourishes.
What’s your favourite flavour combination?
Chickpea and miso and butter. The combo blows my mind – it is so, so good!
What is the USP of your restaurant?
Our attention to detail when it comes to produce and culture of people. We understand our guests.
What do your future plans entail?
I’ve got a couple of cooking collaborations with some chefs that I really love and respect coming up. I can’t wait to share. It’s something I truly enjoy doing.
Factbox
Address: 11 Berkeley St, London W1J 8DS
Phone: 020 3988 0054
Website: jeru.co.uk
All imagery credit: Lateef.photography
