Jamie Barber

Hospitality work often rewards people who can read a room and hold a line; Jamie Barber came to it after law, where structure and negotiation are the daily grammar. He trained at Bristol University before moving into entertainment law at Harbottle & Lewis, where he stayed until 2000. Since 2000, the centre of that work has been founder and CEO of Hush restaurant, the role most closely tied to Jamie Barber’s professional identity.

From there, the portfolio widened through founder and co-owner positions at Villandry, Sake No Hana, and Kitchen Italia. Each one adds another register to the same trade pattern: concepts built to operate at the intersection of service, atmosphere, and scale. In 2011, Jamie Barber became co-founder of Cabana Brazilian Barbecue group (since 2011), a partnership that has lasted long enough to be part of the business fabric rather than a one-off launch.

He is also Board Advisor of Zing Zing. Read together, those roles show a career organised across several formats at once, with each venture extending the same operating discipline into a different setting.

Today, Jamie Barber’s work is defined less by a single restaurant than by the range of roles he has held across the sector. Founder and ceo, founder and co-owner, co-founder, Board Advisor: the titles describe a career spent building, steering, and sustaining hospitality businesses over time. Hush restaurant, Villandry, Sake No Hana, Kitchen Italia, Cabana Brazilian Barbecue group (since 2011), and Zing Zing form the current outline of that practice.

The through-line is continuity after a career switch that happened in 2000. From entertainment law into hospitality, Barber’s work has moved through concept creation and business oversight rather than a single narrow format. The result is a profile of accumulation: each role adding another layer to a portfolio that has stayed active, varied, and commercially alert.

Jamie’s signature dishes include Truffle Croissant Burger. The dish works through contrast: a familiar format carrying a more layered, more composed name. In trade terms, it signals a kitchen willing to use recognisable form while pushing the register of indulgence and play.

Jamie’s honors include Best Bar in London and Test of Time. Taken together, they point to both immediate industry recognition and longer-term staying power — the kind that comes from remaining relevant over years rather than only at launch.