Walking into Yuma Hashemi’s restaurant, The Drunken Butler is a lot like walking into the living room of a typical Persian family — the inspiration for his culinary career echoed in family photos that line the walls.
Like many Persian chefs, Yuma, who was born in Tehran, Iran, learned to cook through his mother. The famous Persian penchant for welcoming guests into their homes allowed him to witness first-hand how the food was prepared and made.
Yuma trained at the highly-regarded Brillat-Savarin school in Germany and began to forge a career across many leading restaurants across Europe.
His first big break was a role as a commis chef at Fischers Fritz, a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Berlin. Since then, he has travelled everywhere from Stockholm and Bordeaux to Chicago and San Francisco — his desire to broaden his culinary experience eventually landing him in London.
After spending time creating novel dishes as a chef in a vegan restaurant in East London, he joined The Chancery restaurant, where his food was recognised by the Michelin Guide. Having spent nearly two years as head chef, he decided to set up on his own.
In late 2017, Yuma’s first solo venture, The Drunken Butler was born.
The restaurant is now highly-acclaimed, receiving rave reviews from the likes of Marina O’Loughlin at The Times.
thedrunkenbutler.com/
