Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer may oversee a foodie empire with a name that evokes Rosh Hashanah, but the Israeli husband-and-wife team behind Honey & Co don’t always get to enjoy a traditional New Year themselves.
“If it falls on a Saturday night then we’re in the restaurant, working,” says Srulovich. “We always do something, though — especially if we have family visiting from Israel or friends with kids — but make less of it if it’s just the two of us. We always eat the apple.”
“Didn’t you walk around with a pot of honey forcing everyone at work to eat it?” laughs Packer. “You know we want to start the year right, but we don’t always have time to do a proper celebration+. We tend to invite people who have no idea of what we’re doing!”
“We go completely tribal — we go native,” jokes Srulovich, whose easy manner makes him well-suited to a life in hospitality. He and his wife love to host, and their bonhomie and colourful, Middle Eastern-influenced food have been key to their success.
To date, the couple — who came to the UK in 2004 and describe their eateries as their “babies” — have given birth to three little Honeys. Their first, the tiny, 10-table Fitzrovia-based restaurant, Honey & Co, is now six years old. Their three-year-old middle child, Honey & Spice, is a delicatessen in the same street; and the newest baby, Honey & Smoke, is a larger restaurant spread across two floors, a few hundred yards away and just a year old.
Never ones to sit still, the couple have also produced three cookery books, each a glimpse into their world. The first read like a love letter from Srulovich to Packer, full of stories of their life. The second featured Packer’s cakes, breads and bakes. She worked for several years as a pastry chef at Ottolenghi, while Srulovich, another Ottolenghi alumnus, is more focused on the savoury side of the kitchen.
This summer, they delivered their third book. Honey & Co: At Home focuses on what they eat when they are off duty. It’s divided into the occasions they cook for — the two of them; for friends; for the weekend when they have more time; and for a crowd — party food. They also share pantry staples.
“It’s very much our food,” says Packer. “I mean, everything in the restaurants is our food as well, but this is more. Some of it’s much easier — more straightforward, ingredients you can find. At home we don’t want the biggest headache. But also there are some dishes that are worth bringing out when you have guests that are worth the effort. All guests are worth the effort!”
“Home” has been a series of rented places in south London, although they now own a flat in Stockwell — an easy run on the Victoria Line to their little empire. But for a long time their true home was their workplace.
“We spent so much effort building these places and bringing them to life, they were very much at the centre of our lives,” says Srulovich. “A lot of our friends came to work with us as well, so it became harder to separate work and life and stuff, but in a good way as well.”
More recently, the pair have been trying to redraw those boundaries, taking holidays twice a year and spending more time together outside work.
“It’s a supreme effort but we really, really try,” says Srulovich. “It’s good for the team to be without us. Instead of us changing their diapers, they need to change each other’s!”
“And holidays are good for inspiration,” adds Packer.
Their new seasonal menu at Honey & Smoke includes avocados, prompted by a trip to Mexico in January. “We used to eat loads of them as kids in Israel — I remember picking and eating them warm from the sun — but we’ve only ever had a couple of avocado recipes on our menus,” they say.
During their normal working week, they’ve also carved out free time. All restaurants are closed on Sundays (“so now we have a proper weekend”) and Honey & Smoke is closed on Mondays.
“On Tuesdays we do a ceramic class together at Morley College [in Lambeth]. We can walk there and it breaks up our week in a different way. It’s fun because we’re doing something with our hands. It’s everything we’re comfortable with,” says Packer. “We’re like children playing with mud.”
They now have 65 staff and countless WhatsApp groups in place. “It’s the newest way to run a restaurant and a good way to get a message across to everyone at once,” smiles Packer.
“Nobody can say ‘no one told me’ or ‘I didn’t know’,” adds Srulovich.
The time off is important — running a business as a married couple is tough.
“We argue all the time,” says Srulovich. “First thing in the morning. Three times an hour through the day and last thing. Actually not last thing at night.”
“No, last thing at night we’re quite happy,” says Packer. “First thing in the morning — I like waking early and jumping out of bed, and he likes to sleep late, so that’s an argument before we’ve even opened our eyes. We are just very different people who do everything together. We even argue about who’s making dinner.”
“The biggest argument,” says Srulovich.
No wonder, when dinner may take place late at night, after they crawl in from a day in the kitchens. Can they be bothered to eat when they get home?
“We might walk home with an aubergine from the restaurants or a steak — or run around and put cucumbers in a bag and three days later they’re still there,” says Srulovich.
A few of their emergency suppers, like a vibrant green shakshuka or a vegetable soup loosely based on Moroccan harira feature in the book. Do they ever resort to junk food?
“Fish-finger sandwiches,” declares Srulovich. “They are so nice, but when you toast the bread you need to put the fish fingers on top of the toaster to defrost. Then you put them in.”
“He throws the fish fingers in the toaster and they burn every time — pieces fall off them,” complains Packer, adding that they have to be really tired to resort to such convenience food.
“If we do eat them — which is rarely — it’s because we’re like dead people that are hungry. And we eat them with good Moroccan sourdough.”
So what will be on the menu for Rosh Hashanah this year?
“An apple dessert for sure,” says Packer.
“And honey parfait,” adds Srulovich.
“We’ll start with mezze, because that’s what we always do, and then something simple, like chicken with plums,” says Packer. “Food that’s fun and easy.”
Find Honey & Co recipes in JC Recipes
