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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.”