Itinerant, country-hopping chefs aren’t much new in 2022 – but few come with such an acutely international outlook at Yuma Hashemi. Born in Iran and raised in Berlin’s vibrant Wilmersdorf district, he trained first at the city’s storied Austrian spot Lutter & Wegner, before setting out for cheffing stints in Sweden, Bordeaux, Chicago and San Francisco, finally settling in London where, in 2017, he opened The Drunken Butler on Rosebery Avenue in Clerkenwell.
Monkfish, mitake and shiso / Image: Cris Barnett
The name might be arbitrary – drawn from an apocryphal altercation between a Georgian socialite and her soused manservant – but the restaurant traces a delectable line between a smattering of European and Asian cuisines, served in a pretty, trinket-strewn dining room designed to evoke an Iranian family home.
Kicked off with one of the city’s oldest negronis (in that the bitters, vermouth and gin date from the 1950s, 70s and 80s, respectively) the enigmatically menu-free set flits between seven and nine courses that change according to the season, heavy on poultry and shellfish. They skew towards fusion and intriguing flavour combos: think monkish with mitake, miso mustard and shiso leaf, or quail with caramelised yoghurt cream and mango chutney.
Hashemi gets ready for a busy service at The Drunken Butler / Image: Cris Barnett
A segue occurs on Sundays, where The Drunken Butler eschews pan-global experimentation for a trad Persian feast, drawing on Hasehemi’s family recipes but also, charmingly, elevating restaurant KP Atiqur Rahman to create and cook dishes. Expect homely gems like the saffron-infused, scorched rice dish tahdig, say, or a slow-cooked lamb stew with dried limes and kidney beans. Warming, right?
Here, Hashemi harks back to give us his insider intel on the best places to eat in Berlin.
