Fifteen - Jamie Oliver

Fifteen was founded by the TV cook Jamie Oliver - the idea is to give disadvantaged young people foundation and apprenticeship in a top class restaurant. We´ve been there for breakfast on a saturday, before 11 am it was no problem to get seated. The ambiente is modern but cozy, waiters were very nice and the food all handmade, fresh and very tasty.
It´s a little out of the touristic route but worth a visit - close to tube station Old Street.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is famous for his cooking shows and cookbooks. Cookbooks like "The Naked Chef" focus on minimal, but very fresh, ingredients.

Fifteen, in London, is a restaurant that was founded by Mr. Oliver but for a very specific purpose. Jamie Oliver used the collateral of his house to start Fifteen in 2002, which is a foundation which trains roughly 15 candidates per class in the restaurant business. These young people come from disadvantaged backgrounds, facing many challenges such as drug addiction, alcoholism, unemployment or homelessness. Fifteen offers these apprentices a future and an opportunity.

I tried Fifteen in November, 2009 and was worried that it might be stuffy and expensive. I actually found the opposite. The staff is some of the friendliest I have come across in London, the price was reasonable and the portions were decent.

Fifteen is made up of two restaurants--the main dining room upstairs and the trattoria downstairs. I tried the trattoria which is decorated with lots of light and wood. The kitchen is open so visitors can watch the trainees in action. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are available and to go items such as fresh breads and pastries may also be purchased.

I went for lunch and had homemade Italian bread flavored with fragrant fresh herbs, gnocchi with pears and vanilla cheesecake with oranges for dessert. All dishes focused on what was in season (the restaurant menu changes daily based on this) and all courses were delicious.

Prices for main dishes run in the eight to 17.50 pound range which was much less than I expected. Desserts are roughly five or six pounds.

Fifteen has expanded to other additional locations outside London, being Cornwall, England, Amsterdam and Melbourne. Fifteen London is, however, the original location.

Finally, the restaurant offers a gift shop with proceeds benefitting Fifteen Foundation. Gifts vary from the expected (cookbooks, aprons, tea towels) to the unexpected (knitting kits).

If you are a fan of Jamie Oliver's cookbooks, I would recommend visiting Fifteen as a treat. The food is tasty, the atmosphere is both casual and relaxing, and the staff has a smile for everyone. It's also nice to eat a meal that is helping a good cause.

3 months before we went to spent the weekend in London, we made reservations at Jamie Olivers restauarant Fifteen in London (exit oldstreet station). We wanted a table at 12 pm, but is was already booked, they had one table at 0215pm so we took it. Unbelivable it was already booked 3 months in advance. They need your creditcardnumber and 2 mobilephone numbers to complete the reservation.
Arriving in London after some siteseeing we took the 'tube'to oldstreet station. After some searching we found the restaurant. We got in a had a seat at the bar were the asked us what to drink, well were were in for wine so we bought a bottle (after tasting 2 kinds!!) of wite wine. After 15 min our table was ready. The wine was kept nicely cold next to our table. On the menu was not to much stuff wich we think is good, less is better!!! The had bread, 3 different starters, 3 maincourse and deserts. Jasmyn had Pasta as a starter and me the resotto. As maincourse i had the salmon and Jasmyn a Vegetable gratin. We had no desert. The lunch lasted 2,5 hours, but was a great experience.