London is abundant in places serving small plates and natural wine, but what makes Lulu’s so special is its connection with the local neighbourhood. In fact, founder Katya Milavic Davies and chef Lasse Petersen opened up shop at the tail end of 2022 next door it its sister restaurant, Llewelyn’s, which has been a Herne Hill favourite since 2017. Naturally they share some similarities: seasonal produce, intricate plating and complex flavours, for starters. But where Llewelyn’s offers a more traditional menu, Lulu’s is a little more playful. A deli and takeaway lunch spot selling a selection of sandwiches and salads by day, a wine bar serving delectable dishes of pasta, seasonal sides and wine by night, Lulu’s lives up to its younger-sibling status (which inspired its anthropomorphic logo, with its curly-haired smiley face).

When he’s not ordering produce or running the kitchen at Llewelyn’s, Lasse (whose experience has taken him from Morito and Western’s Laundry to a stint working in Copenhagen’s fine-dining scene) will likely be talking to customers at Lulu’s about how to use unusual ingredients. “There’s always someone asking: ‘What can I do with this?’” he says. “Then I’ll have a 30-minute conversation about various dishes and what’s in season.” In between services and cooking up a fragrant, spring-forward squid dish (which you can find the recipe for below), Katya – a long-standing Herne Hill resident – and Lasse sit down to discuss bringing Lulu’s to life and the loveliness of having the support of locals.

Katya: “I grew up around Herne Hill and began working in restaurants when I was about 16. I actually did a few shifts here when it was a completely different business and I fell in love with the building and the space. I’ve read before about people coming up with an idea for a restaurant and then finding somewhere to put it. That never really made sense in my mind. For me, it was first about the place.

“Herne Hill is very supportive of independent businesses. The guy who ran the restaurant here before us wanted to sell the space to somebody local, which is quite unusual these days. But there’s a real sense of community here in Herne Hill and it feels important to maintain that.”

Lasse: “At Lulu’s, we have a lot of direct contact with locals on a daily basis. We always have two front-of-house and one chef doing everything at the bar/deli counter. It has an open-kitchen feel; it’s small and interactive.

“When it comes to cooking at home, I’m a lot less structured than when I’m working. I don’t write recipes down, for instance, but I do think about the best seasonal produce available and go from there, which is what I do here. You might be surprised but not everyone does that. Sometimes people get bogged down with recipes, whereas I think it’s better to see them as more of a starting point and then explore.

“I’ve worked in lots of different places but at every single one the main idea behind the food has been that it needs to be delicious. I know that sounds obvious, but once you have those parameters you’re able to try a lot of different things. I also believe in writing simple menus that aren’t too wordy – the complexity can come from the dishes themselves.

“We used to do a lunch service at Llewelyn’s, but it’s a big space with a small kitchen, so running two different menus from one spot was a lot of work. I think Katya felt like not offering something more casual during the daytime was a bit of a missed opportunity.”

Katya: “I was frustrated not having the kitchen working at lunch – it’s such a great space and it felt mad not to use it. But I think we’ve tackled that really well by offering takeaway sandwiches and salads at Lulu’s.”

Lasse: “And they change every week – we see a lot of the same customers coming back to try something new. I like to look and see what ingredients are not necessarily selling well in the deli and showcase them in the salads so people can be inspired about what to do with them. For dinner, meanwhile, we focus on fun small dishes and sharing, whereas Llewelyn’s is a more old school, serving starters and mains.”

Katya: “We thought about Lulu’s interiors in the same way as we did the food. We wanted them to complement Llewelyn’s – to show that there was a relationship between the two – but we also wanted it to be more informal and to feel a bit younger.”

Lasse: “Our biggest limitation with designing the interior was that we were creating both a deli and a wine bar. We needed the space to be able to switch around quite easily. During the day, the tables are filled with produce and then at night we spread them out for dining.”

Katya: “We also have a higher bar along the window – something we tried at Llewelyn’s but people didn’t like it. It works for Lulu’s because of the simplicity of the menu and the smaller plates. We’ve created an environment perfect for what this is.”

Lasse’s recipe for squid and chicken broth with soft herbs and spring vegetables

“This dish brings together tender squid with spring vegetables. Here we’re using courgettes, Tokyo turnips (a variety that tastes super fresh and crunchy), asparagus and peas. We also do a winter version, but this is simple and light. You start by cooking the vegetables in broth and then cutting the squid finely, so the pieces almost look like noodles. Make sure you drop them into the broth at the last minute so they don’t go tough.”

Serves four

1 chicken carcass
300g chicken wings
2 white onions, thinly sliced
3 carrots, peeled
2 celery sticks
2 cloves of garlic
1 bouquet garni (bundle of herbs)
3 egg whites (optional)
300g gutted and cleaned squid body (freeze the tentacles and wings for another dish)
4 asparagus spears, woody bits removed
1 small courgette, either of romana or grezzina varieties
1 small Tokyo turnip
50g peas, freshly podded
60g mix of picked wild garlic, dill, tarragon and parsley
Salt
A squeeze of lemon
Extra virgin olive oil

First make the broth by roasting the chicken carcass, wings, onion, carrots and celery in the oven at 180 degrees Celcius until the carcass and wings are golden and the vegetables have caramelised. Add to a saucepan with the garlic and bouquet garni and cover with water. Bring the liquid to a boil, skimming the froth off and simmering slowly for an hour or so. If you wish to clarify the broth, strain your stock and skim off the fat. If using, whisk up the egg whites with a little water, add them to the broth and slowly bring back to a boil while stirring. Once the egg whites have cooked and are floating, take the broth off the heat and leave to cool slightly before straining through a muslin. Season well with salt and reserve.

To prep the squid, run your knife along the inside of the body and open it up into a large flat piece. Make sure you clean it well and remove any slime from the inside. Thinly slice the squid into long, very thin noodles.

Blanch the asparagus for 2-3 minutes and slice at an angle into 5mm pieces. Thinly slice the courgette on a mandolin. Peel the turnip and dice it into 1cm cubes.

Season the squid noodles with salt and divide them into four bowls. Add 700g of the cooled reserved chicken broth to a pot along with the peas, courgette, asparagus and turnips. Bring slowly to a boil, check the seasoning and add a squeeze of lemon. Add your mixed herbs, give it a stir and pour the broth over the squid, making sure it’s fully covered. Leave for 1 minute to let the squid cook and then finish with a drizzle of olive oil.