Ep 39: The Carousel brothers - Ed & Ollie Templeton

Food Tribe

Today’s guests are the wonderful Templeton brothers, Ollie and Ed, who along with their cousins Will and Ana, are the owners and founders of, what some would argue, is the most unique restaurant in London. Carousel is like a stage in reverse - a hub where chefs from the UK and all over the world come and showcase their food to a London audience.

The calibre of chefs they’ve had through their doors is incredible - some of the ones from the UK that you may recognise are Romy Gill, Olia Hercules, Santiago Lastra, Jeremy Chan from Ikoyi, Tom Brown from Cornerstone and the list goes on… Since opening their doors 5 ½ years ago, they’ve collaborated with more than 160 different chefs from 30+ countries and 50+ cities.

Carousel is not your typical restaurant – it feels like the best special-occasion dinner party where you’re sat at communal tables, there’s an open kitchen, the chef introduces the menu every night and you have the opportunity to be up close and learn more about them and their food.

Carousel is this amazing platform for so many of our favourite chefs who’ve gone on to open their own restaurants. It’s such an important part of not only London's, but also the global food community, so I was very excited to have the chance to speak to Ed and Ollie and hear a bit more about their story. I headed over to Carousel back in Feb to record the episode and we chat about how they started it, some of the amazing chefs they’ve worked with and the most memorable meals they’ve had (of which there’ve been plenty), their whole approach to dining and creating experiences around food, and what they love most about working in the industry.

I had so much fun with the brothers, and I hope you enjoy the chat as much as I did.

*This episode was recorded in February 2020*