Known for its innovative dishes, OXBO Bankside, is showcasing its range of authentic, international cuisine with new a la carte menu curated by executive head chef, Ollie Couillaud
Guests and Londoners alike will delight in the brand-new a la carte menu at Bankside’s OXBO Bankside restaurant set to launch this month and be served throughout the summer period. Curated by new head chef, Ollie Couillaud, the menu features fresh and seasonal ingredients best enjoyed in the warmer months.
Bringing his signature style to OXBO Bankside, Ollie Couillaud’s new menu takes inspiration from international culinary dishes – reflecting the multicultural area of Bankside – by incorporating a twist on Western and Eastern classic dishes such as bao buns and papaya & avocado ceviche.
Ollie Couillaud has also introduced indulgent, comfort food dishes to the menu, with personal favourites from his childhood such as croque monsieur, pork belly, buttermilk chicken and special fries, topped with pulled pork, chilli and cheese. Full of booze and butter, these decadent, flavour-packed and traditional French classics have been given a contemporary upgrade, fitting with OXBO Bankside’s modern yet chic dinning offering.
In addition to new tantalising dishes on offer at the restaurant, small plates have also been introduced to the menu, including fun, fresh dishes such as grilled courgettes, warm squid and grilled sea bass that can be ordered as a side or combined and enjoyed as a main meal.
OXBO Bankside’s dessert menu has also been given a seasonal update, with fruity flavours included throughout such as blueberry trifle, banana and walnut cake, rhubarb cheesecake and valhorna chocolate mousse, served with amarena cherries.
Appointed to the restaurant in February this year, Head Chef Ollie puts a huge emphasis on flavour when designing his plates and as a bastion of simple and quality cooking, this is very much reflected in his first curated menu at OXBO Bankside. As a culinarian, he constantly strives to improve his dishes and create innovative taste combinations that diners are set to love. Growing up in France within a family of cooks, the use of high quality, seasonal ingredients that are bought from local markets has always been important to Ollie and is evident in this spring-summer menu.
Ollie was born in Poitiers, France and studied at the Maison de la Formation in Poitiers before taking his Baccalaureate de Cuisine in 1988.
Ollie Couillaud landed his first Head Chef role with the launch of La Trompette in Chiswick, west London, in 2001, where he remained until 2005. Subsequently, Ollie moved to join Tom Aikens as Head Chef for the launch of Tom’s Kitchen in Chelsea. After this time, Ollie decided to change the direction of his career and become a chef consultant; this prompted him to launch his own business – Sunshine Food Concepts – that he continues to oversee today. From November 2015, Ollie joined Selfridges to run The Corner restaurant, where he remained until moving to head up the OXBO Bankside restaurant.
Head Chef Ollie Couillaud comments on the new menu: “The new menu has been a true passion project of mine since joining OXBO Bankside’s esteemed culinary team to head up the OXBO Bankside restaurant. I wanted to keep the dishes simple, providing a fresh take on household favourites such as croque monsieur and buttermilk fried chicken. Responding to the growing trends and demands of our diners, the menu offers top-quality, locally sourced produce. Taste is also paramount to this menu, with sensational flavours incorporated throughout.”
Along with the curation of the new spring-summer menu, Ollie will also be bringing new initiatives into the OXBO Bankside restaurant this spring, including cutting down food waste in the restaurant’s kitchen and looking at how best the kitchen staff can recycle and reuse product to help with the hotel’s sustainability efforts.
While many perceive food waste to be the result of unnecessary packaging and unfinished plates, some of the highest levels of food waste can be seen at the preparation stage. With the help of the OXBO Bankside culinary team, Ollie will look to change this in the kitchens at the hotel, whereby processes will be put in place to eliminate premature preparation of food, alongside factors such as excessive trimming of ingredients and insufficient or non-sustainable storing options.
Ollie’s efforts are a welcomed addition to the OXBO Bankside restaurant in Hilton London Bankside hotel, that has introduced many sustainability and community driven projects since its launch in 2011. The hotel is always looking for new and innovative ways to contribute to the community and lighten its ecological footprint having recently launched the world’s very first Vegan Suite, a suite made up of vegan-friendly materials and design elements for the ethically-conscious traveler, alongside housing beehives on the hotel’s Meadow Garden; an initiative set up to reintegrate nature into the urban Bankside landscape. In this time, Hilton London Bankside has continued to care for its Bankside Bees and guests have been able to sample the delicious and floral-tasting honey in the OXBO Bankside restaurant which is harvested each September.