Taking inspiration from the buvettes of Paris and San Sebastian pintxos bars, chef Mr James Lowe opened Flor last week in the centre of Borough Market in London, having recently celebrated a fifth anniversary at Lyle’s, his Michelin-starred Shoreditch restaurant. In Mr Lowe’s words, Flor is “a wine bar that also places huge importance on the food”. But if you think the food is a secondary notion or some sort of supporting act here, you’d be very much mistaken. It is already receiving plaudits from far and wide. Just this morning Ms Nigella Lawson tweeted that the dishes are “the perfect (hard to achieve) balance between hearty and exquisite”. We can’t disagree. We had the pleasure of sampling the menu recently and it was faultless. Think small plates of fresh, vibrantly red prawn heads, anchovy on toast with lardo and wild marjoram, which tasted like a God-level upgrade on Marmite on toast, and clam flatbreads – garlicy and fishy in equal measure. Simple, quality, crowd-pleasing food to satisfy, not challenge. And, as you will read below, this is a philosophy that Mr Lowe has built a career on.

Flor is a wine bar that also places huge importance on the food. There’s a large wine list with a focus on small producers and those that operate in an agriculturally responsible way. We like to think of it as the little sister of Lyle’s, a small place with a big personality. It is the home of our bread production. We’ll be milling the grain and baking the bread for both Flor and Lyle’s on site. We’ll be selling viennoiserie in the mornings and then moving into lunch and dinner.

After studying at university, I wanted to be a pilot. But for various reasons, and in no small part due to some inspirational meals at St John and The Fat Duck, I decided that what I really wanted was to open a restaurant. I badgered the places that most excited me until they gave me a job in the kitchen.

**I found our fifth birthday at Lyle’s quite emotionally overwhelming. **When we opened the restaurant, I was told that we weren’t interesting enough. We didn’t receive the best reviews and we had a shocking first 18 months financially. So to come out the other side and make it to five years meant a lot to me.

I would describe my cooking style as having a common-sense philosophy. For example, “farm to table” is essentially meaningless. All food comes from a farm and ends up on a table. The more people use a phrase, the less meaning it has. To me, it is very simple. Don’t waste food, work with people who work in a sustainable way and use the best produce when it’s at its peak. I feel like our job as chefs is to pass on the great work that our producers have already done by not interfering with the food too much.

I like to focus on what’s important – good food and wine at a fair price, served in a relaxed environment by nice people. I never eat in places that deal in theatre or whimsy. Many chefs have come to believe that a good story is more important than good food.

**I’m really excited about a lot of the dishes we will be serving at Flor. **This is such a great time to open as there is so much amazing produce available in the summer months. I’ve been able to create some really clean, vegetable-focused dishes. We’ve been working with a supplier in south London who can get us a wonderful, sweet type of pole bean that I’m serving with green almonds and roast peach.

Initially I looked up to chefs such as Fergus Henderson from St John, Heston Blumenthal from The Fat Duck and Rose Grey and Ruth Rogers from The River Café. Their restaurants were unique and amazing. There was real vision and passion behind what they wanted to do. These days I admire people such as Bertrand Grébaut from Septime in Paris and Christian Puglisi from Relæ in Copenhagen. They have both established successful restaurant groups with an interesting variety of plates, none of which compromises on quality.