At Camille with Elliot Hashtroudi

Borough Market on a sunny afternoon is chaos. People stream through the narrow passageways and around the wrought iron pillars painted in that unmistakable shade of dark green, gawking at stands for rare and peculiar cheeses and chocolate covered strawberries. Amongst the madness stands a little restaurant, Camille.

Opened earlier this year by our friend Elliot Hashtroudi and the team behind other neighbourhood London mainstays like Hackney’s Little Duck, Camille has quickly earned a reputation as a great French restaurant. Inside, large windows face out towards the market, winter light pouring through. The decor gives it the feel of a low-key Bistro in Paris or Lyon. Dark wood furniture and deep red paint. Bring your partner, bring your parents, or just hole up for an afternoon with a glass—or a bottle—and a plate of saucisson and Cornish monkfish.

“I wanted to focus on regional French cuisine,” says Hashtroudi, now sat in a corner of his restaurant on a rare day off, a bottle of chilled Austrian on the table. “But I didn’t want to be restricted by any specific area of France. I love what Henry Harris is doing at Bouchon Racine, but I wanted to focus on seasonality and British suppliers, drawing some inspiration from French cooking along the way. Over the last few months I’ve covered dishes from Paris, Normandy and Languedoc, as well as drawing from North African cooking. We’re all over the country, really.”

“My aim was, and is, to make it rustic and easy-going, as well as a little bit special. I love fine dining and it's definitely got  a place, but I think it's slowly becoming a bit of a dying art. Obviously it's expensive for one, but I like to go to a restaurant where I feel at home and it's easy and relaxed. You can bring your friends and get pissed and become a regular. That’s what I want Camille to be.”

We first met Elliot over at St JOHN, where he spent a few years as the restaurants sous-chef, the sort of education that, despite still being in his twenties, sets you up for success in the hyper-competitive world of London cooking. “Some of my greatest memories as a chef are from my time at St JOHN,” It’s busy and it's taxing; hard work, but you’re learning everything there and it was a great foundation adding things like butchery knowledge to my skillset.”

“My goal with Camille was to take some of that knowledge and apply it to French cooking, but with British produce. Using the whole animal and opening people’s eyes to sustainable ingredients and cooking. It’s been great to build relationships with small farms and producers. I’m also inspired by the French way of service. You can take your time. Enjoy your wine, enjoy your food, we’re not here to rush you or patronise you. We hope you can trust us to give you a hand if you need it.”

So far, so good. The reviews have been glowing and the restaurant busy. If you see the skate schnitzel on the menu… order it. “I love being here,” says Elliot, “Borough Market might be busy, but it has a special pace and energy and, I like to think, we’ve created something that complements the location and is a bit of a sanctuary away from it all. We’ve become friends with the other restaurant owners in the area. It feels like something is happening here.” 

“Book a table, open some wine, ask us about the menu. It’s honest food and we’re having fun. I can’t ask for much more than that at the moment.”