Taz Sarhane, who recently replaced Theo Clench as head chef, says guests are treated to a “truly amazing” and “unique” experience when they visit Cycene.
The intimate Michelin-starred restaurant in Shoreditch runs with just 18 covers, in an elegant space created by Blue Mountain School, who own the building and design the interior.
Taz, 28, previously worked at Claude Bosi’s Brooklands, as well as two-Michelin starred Bibendum, before joining Cycene as senior sous chef in January of this year.
Born and raised in south east London to English-Moroccan parents, Taz is a keen forager and has a big focus on seasonal British ingredients and preservation.
Describing Cycene, Taz told The Staff Canteen: “I want all of the guests to feel like they’re sitting in my house and eating with me.
“Everything in the whole building is very art led. Absolutely everything is handmade – the crockery, the chairs, the carpets, the walls. We always have a really beautiful piece of art on display in the dining room.
“When guests come to eat at Cycene, I want them to feel like it’s all about them. It’s not white glove service. I want them to feel like we’re there just hosting them in our space. I think people do generally feel that when they come.
“Cycene is not about having a meal out. It’s all about having an experience. It's very interactive and immersive. It’s a lot about the experience as much as it is about the food here.”
Asked why he wanted to join the restaurant earlier this year, Taz explained: “What enticed me is our little phrase we always say here which is ‘it’s only six tables’. When it’s only six tables, it means you can do amazing things for those covers.
“You don’t worry about cooking off 100 steaks. Here it’s all about the fine details. Everything is all about being bespoke. We’re using a supplier called Highland Wagyu, which is a tiny little farm next to Stirling in Scotland. If we were a 100-cover restaurant, there’s absolutely no way we could use produce which is to that high standard.
“It means that every single ingredient within the kitchen goes through our hands. There’s nothing neglected. Everything is all about being as perfect and bespoke as possible at Cycene.”
James and Christie Brown, who own the restaurant, say Cycene is set for an “evolution”, going in a “new and progressive direction” under Taz.
Outlining his vision after becoming head chef, Taz said: “The way that I’ve always worked is preservation is key. The example I like to give is when you’re in the middle of summer and you take that perfect bite from a peach, you can’t recreate that throughout the year.
“But what we do at Cycene now, we are selecting the best suppliers and collecting the best produce that we can, specifically from the UK and then encapsulating it in different preservation methods. So in November, someone can recreate that vision in their mind of taking the bite from this amazing peach without buying purees and frozen things.
“There are other ways to elongate the shelf life of things. We pick things at the prime of their season and then enjoy them throughout the year.
“Unfortunately, due to the high demand of other restaurants and being these big money machines, it’s impossible to do that, because you can’t select and store enough products for people to enjoy over a long course of time. But that’s the beauty of Cycene, we actually can.
“We have loads of jars around the building, we have a really big fermentation project and we have a giant dry-ager.”
The focus on sourcing ingredients from the UK appears to be a growing trend. Asked why he feels that is, Taz said: “I think a lot of people are going down the route of trying to be sustainable. Don’t get me wrong, I love sustainability, I think it’s good to reduce our carbon footprint. But for me, it’s more that we have amazing stuff here.
“We have amazing stone fruit, we have the best shellfish in the world, in my opinion. I also think we have the best fish in the world. But people just like to overlook this.
“I’m specifically working quite a lot with a supplier called Shrub. They do amazing things, it’s all biodynamic, diverse, completely organic. The quality of the things which they use there is insane.
“Why are we outsourcing things which we don’t need to? We have amazing things here.”
Taz’s passion for food and ingredients is evident.
“This is everything I do,” he said.
“I’m also insane about foraging, about mushrooms. Every weekend I find myself in the forest, just walking around. That’s how I get my downtime. As humans, we’re so caught up with technology we just forget how life works. I think we’ve lost that sense of being in touch with the world. That is what made me love food so much and why I’m so concerned with the quality of produce.
“In nature, if you see a rotten mushroom, you’re not going to pick it, right? But if a supplier sends you a three-day old mushroom, people just chuck it in the soup. For me, that’s bonkers.”
He added: “This ideology of being able to buy avocados all year round or the way that we eat bananas from the shop, they’re all underripe and taste like nothing for me. It’s all about using things when they’re at their best. We have to follow the seasons, otherwise things just don’t taste good.
“It sounds crazy, but we’ve lost the sense of actually tasting things. We can sit there with a plate of food in front of us and be like ‘that’s amazing’. But when you really taste it, it’s something completely different. I always think the mouth is the most important thing when we’re talking about food. A lot of people just don’t even think about it.”
Cycene holds a Michelin star and was this year included in the list of the top 100 restaurants in the UK.
“We have a very unique experience,” said Taz.
“I honestly do think we have something very, very special here. I think there are plenty more accolades to come in the future.
“As long as we keep on pushing and we have the right people around us and have the full support of all our amazing suppliers, I think we can do even better things.”
