More than a dozen years after opening their tiny Middle Eastern restaurant Honey & Co. in London, Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich have built a mini empire around hearty food that draws on Israeli and wider Middle Eastern roots. Today, they have four separate locations, which span the categories of deli, bakery, cafe, neighborhood restaurant, and food studio, and just celebrated the release of their fifth cookbook, Honey & Co Daily in May.
“Each of our books have come naturally as we’ve opened each place,” Packer says. The latest book follows the opening of the eatery by the same name on Store Street—a massive project that replaces their previous grill house Honey & Smoke, bringing a bakery, a deli, and all-day dining under one roof. “We find when you open a new place you spend a lot of time fine-tuning the recipes, and of course writing them down for the team, and it’s so special for us that we can share the recipes to a wider audience,” Packer says.
Honey & Co Daily was built for weekday eating: breakfast on the fly, lunch with substance, a 4pm sweet, dinner that earns its place in the rotation. “It’s a more casual place than our other restaurants and the book echoes that,” Packer says. The restaurant, and the cookbook, also reflect an evolution in the couple’s personal life. “The food is really what we like to eat at home and through the seasons too,” Srulovich says. “It’s been 14 years since we wrote our first book, and naturally we have changed as we’ve grown older—we want things to be easy and fun, whether you’re cooking for yourself or hosting friends.”
The book includes a whole chapter on eggs, all the restaurant’s sandwich fillings and breads, a focaccia topping for every season, and even a fun section called ‘In a Glass’ that kicks off the meal with a cocktail and finishes with a dessert in a glass. “Honestly, this book is full of the recipes we return to all the time, the food we cook for each other at home or serve for friends,” Packer says.
She adds: “The recipes are simple and wholesome for everyday pleasure,” perfectly describing summery grape and bean salad, which gets a salty, cheesy tang from the fried manouri.
Ingredients
Method
- Empty the beans into a colander, rinse with plenty of hot water, drain and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a high heat, add the onion wedges and fry for about 2
- minutes until they just start to soften. Add the grapes, the salt and chilli flakes and toss together.
- Cook for about 1 minute, then add the vinegar to the pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the
- heat and pour the contents over the beans. Stir well to coat.
- Return the frying pan to the heat and add the cheese chunks, frying for about 2 minutes on each side until golden and warm.
- Add the chopped mint and chicory to the beans, toss to combine, then divide between fourserving plates. Top each with a quarter of the fried manouri and a sprinkle of chilli flakes and sea salt.
- Serve warm.
