Ben Marks

Clarity sits at the center of Ben Marks’s cooking. The work leans toward Michelin-level dishes without the formal edge, putting structure and ambition in play without letting them harden into stiffness. That preference for flavour over ideology shapes both the plate and the room: the food is meant to read cleanly, and the hospitality is built around personality and direct connection with guests. A layered kitchen education runs through the line.

Marks trained at Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Apprenticeship before moving through Operakallaren in Stockholm, Claridge’s in London, Noma in Copenhagen, and then The Square in London, where he worked as chef de partie. The route is telling: different cities, different systems, same pressure for precision, discipline, and consistency. What comes through is not imitation, but a vocabulary built from repeated standards and sharpened in use.

That vocabulary now defines Perilla, where he has been Chef Owner since 2016. The kitchen reads as controlled rather than decorative, with polish that stays close to appetite. The point is not to display range for its own sake, but to let years of technical exposure settle into a direct style. The result is cooking that understands restraint, and knows when a dish is stronger for being left alone.

Michelin-level dishes without the formality describes the work well. The ambition is there, but the presentation stays in reach of the diner. Detail matters, yet it does not break contact with flavour. That balance gives the cooking its shape: serious, but not ceremonious; disciplined, but not overworked. Simplicity is used as a tool rather than an escape. Marks’s stated preference for flavour over ideology keeps the food anchored to taste, personality, and the connection between restaurant and guest. That produces a style with a clear center of gravity, where hospitality is part of the craft rather than an add-on to it.

Ben's signature dishes include Hake dish with Parmesan and Black Pepper sauce, Amalfi Lemon Tart, and Perilla citrus tart. They fit the broader register of the kitchen: composed, direct, and built around flavour first. Nothing in the framing depends on ornament. The work points instead to freshness, precision, and the kind of detail that tightens a dish without crowding it.

Ben Marks has received Food and Travel Awards, Breakthrough Chef of the Year (2017). Ben's honors include Breakthrough Chef of the Year (2017).