Kitchen Confidential: PipsDish in Covent Garden - Remodelista
Former BBC-producer-turned-kitchen-entrepreneur Philip Dundas knows the value of sharing food. In his father’s last years, Dundas could often be found aiding and abetting his father’s late-life passion for cooking; during many meals, the pair, who had been estranged, forged a new relationship. Photography by Jonathan Gooch. PipsDish Covent Garden is homey and casual. In his previous eating establishments, the cooking always took place in the same room as the dining. Because of space constraints, the working kitchen of the Covent Garden premises is downstairs. The PipsDish bicycle follows Dundas from pop-up to pop-up. Open shelves and under-mounted glass drying racks mean everything is close at hand in this practical working space. The shelves in the servery are made from boards formerly used to mature cheese. Plum velvet curtains and a painted chalkboard. The London Evening Standard food critic described the cooking as “sweetly wholesome.” Old wine boxes cut down to size provide easy storage for tableside cookbooks, inspiration for guests and for Dundas himself. Purchased at a vintage sale, the wooden wall rack is most likely French (and made for storing pewter meat trenchers). “Everything in this space is hugely personal,” says Dundas. An antique French armoire houses the control station: a computer for reservations, and the credit card machine. The door leads to the stair to the hut and the loo, and the working kitchen in the basement. The stairwell is lined with framed prints and etchings. In constant need of storage for all of his cookbooks, Dundas finds space above the door. The bathroom is wallpapered with Penguin Classic postcards of great authors of the 20th century. In the small, unused garden area in back, Dundas installed a Mini Hut from Dorset Sheperd’s Huts, which arrived as a ready-to-assemble kit–and gained the restaurant an extra table. An avid mountaineer, Dundas styled the room as an alpine hut with posters, travel photos, and sheepskins. The hut offers a private dining experience for six to eight. Dundas in front of his new enterprise. The pop-up was on the lower level of the British Standard Showroom–see A Kitchen for the People, Courtesy of Prince Charles.