In Conversation with: NattyCanCook
NattyCanCook: The Chef Redefining Caribbean Fine Dining at 2210
From a cell at HMP Brixton to a permanent restaurant a few streets from where he grew up, Nathaniel Mortley has spent a decade proving Caribbean cooking belongs on the same shelf as the world's best fine dining.
Photography, Chef NattyCanCook - Nathaniel Mortley by Danika Magdelena.
2210 by NattyCanCook opened its doors in Herne Hill on 5 November 2025, and for anyone who has followed Nathaniel Mortley's career, the address itself tells half the story. Named for a Herne Hill postcode, the restaurant sits a short walk from Peckham, where Mortley grew up, and its arrival marks the first permanent home for a chef who has spent the past few years building one of London's most closely watched followings, first on social media, then through an extended, acclaimed pop-up in Peckham that won him “One to Watch” in Condé Nast Traveller's 2025 UK Top New Restaurant Awards.
The cooking at 2210 fuses precise French technique with the bold, specific flavours of Mortley's own heritage, Bajan, Jamaican and Guyanese ingredients treated with the same rigour most kitchens reserve for European classics. The à la carte menu runs from a Roti and Scotch Bonnet Butter and an Ackee and Saltfish Spring Roll through to a Wiri Wiri Lamb Rump glazed in pepper sauce with smoked baba ganoush, while dessert leans into cross-cultural comfort with a Deep-Fried Apple Crumble and a Plantain Cake. Sundays bring a Caribbean-style roast, a nod to how naturally the British Sunday lunch and Caribbean Sunday dinner traditions sit together.
Mortley's path here was never a straight line. He trained as a chef from sixteen, working through kitchens including Jason Atherton's City Social and The Arts Club, before a period of trouble led to a sentence at HMP Brixton. It was there, through The Clink Project, a charity that trains people in prison for careers in hospitality, that his relationship with cooking was rebuilt, working as sous chef at the charity's inmate-staffed restaurant.
We sat down with Mortley to talk flavour, technique, and what it means to build a permanent home for Caribbean fine dining so close to where his story started.
The FLUXX Interview
Your path into this restaurant hasn't followed a straight line. How would you introduce yourself and what you do, in your own words?
Photography, NattyCanCook, by Harriet Langford.
I'm Nathaniel Mortley, most people know me as NattyCanCook. I'm a chef and the owner of 2210 in Herne Hill. I found cooking at a point in my life when I really needed direction (whilst also being threatened to get shipped to Barbados for bad behaviour when I was younger) and it ended up becoming something I was genuinely good at and passionate about.
Now I'd say my food is about taking the Caribbean flavours I grew up around and presenting them in my own way. I want people to recognise the flavours and memories behind the food but also see how far Caribbean cooking can be pushed.
You've talked about wanting to present Caribbean food at the same level as the best fine dining in the world. What does ‘good' look like to you when a dish is on the pass?
Photography, 2210 by Harriet Langford.
Flavour comes first. Always. A dish can look amazing but if it doesn't taste good then we've missed the point.
When something leaves my pass, I want every element to have a reason for being there. The seasoning needs to be right, the temperature needs to be right, the textures need to work and then visually it needs to represent the standard we're trying to set at 2210.
I want someone who knows Caribbean food to taste it and recognise something familiar even if the presentation or technique is completely different to what they're used to.
2210 has opened close to where you grew up in Peckham. What does it mean to build a permanent home for your cooking so near to where you started?
Photography above by Harriet Langford. Dishes below left, Carrot & Plantain Bhajis and right, a Lychee Martini.
It means a lot because South London is a massive part of who I am. I grew up in Peckham, so to have my own restaurant down the road in Herne Hill feels like a full circle moment.
There were points in my life where having my own restaurant wasn't even something I could imagine and to be honest with you, the goal was never to have a restaurant. Now I'm able to build something here, employ people and hopefully show other young people from the area that your starting point doesn't have to dictate where you end up. I like that 2210 feels like it belongs here. I didn't want to create something that felt disconnected from the community around it.
The technique should never be louder than the food.
I use techniques I've learnt throughout my career because they can help me get a better result, whether that's the texture of a sauce, how something is cooked or how the dish comes together. But I'm not interested in using a French technique just so I can say I've used it.
If you're eating something with Wiri Wiri, I still want you to taste Wiri Wiri. If it's ackee and saltfish, it still needs to taste like ackee and saltfish. The technique is there to elevate those flavours, not replace their identity.
Herne Hill has its own rhythm, and you serve a Caribbean-style roast every Sunday. How has the neighbourhood itself started to shape the menu?
Sunday is probably the best example of that. Sunday roast is such a British tradition but Sunday dinner is massive in Caribbean households as well, so bringing those two things together felt really natural.
Being in Herne Hill has made me think about how 2210 fits into people's lives locally, rather than just being somewhere people travel to for a special occasion. I want people to be able to come for dinner during the week but also think of us as their Sunday spot. The neighbourhood has definitely made us think more about that sense of familiarity and community.
Your dessert menu includes things like the Deep-Fried Apple Crumble and Plantain Cake, dishes that sit between British comfort food and Caribbean flavour. How do you build a dish that has to hold two traditions at once?
I normally start with something familiar. Apple crumble is something pretty much everyone in Britain understands and plantain is something that immediately connects with African and Caribbean food.
Then it's about asking how I can make it feel like 2210 without losing what people love about the original. I don't want to combine things just for the sake of saying it's a fusion dish. The best version is when you eat it and it just makes sense. You recognise the nostalgia in it but there's something new there as well.
What has been a continual inspiration throughout your career?
Photography, Ackee & Saltfish Spring Roll, Harriet Langford.
My family, my culture and where I've come from.
A lot of my inspiration comes from food I've eaten growing up or flavours that bring back a specific memory. Whether it be my grandad's Guyanese Chow Mein or my aunt's cakes, my heritage is mixed, Guyanese, Bajan and German-Welsh, and growing up in South London exposed me to even more cultures and styles of food.
Travel is often a source of creative renewal. Are there destinations you consistently return to, or recent discoveries you'd recommend to readers seeking culture, design and atmosphere?
The food in Bali was amazing, it's definitely a place I would recommend people to go to for beautiful dishes. So much flavour and culture!
Photography, Akohara Buahan Village Retreat, Bali. Read our feature here
Beyond travel, are there restaurants, cafés or cocktail bars whose atmosphere, materiality or sense of style you find especially compelling, spaces you return to again and again?
Being a chef and running my own restaurant means I actually don't get as much time as I'd like to go out and eat. When I do, I really appreciate places where the food and atmosphere come together and you can just enjoy yourself without overthinking it.
The Tamil Prince is somewhere I've been back to a few times and every time I've gone it's been amazing. The food is consistently good, the flavours are big and the whole place has a great energy about it. It's definitely one of those restaurants I'm always happy to go back to.
What would you like to see more of in how Caribbean food is represented in London?
I'd like to see more range.
Caribbean food isn't one thing. Even between Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and all the other islands and countries, there are completely different dishes, ingredients and influences.
I'd like to see more Caribbean chefs being given the space to tell those stories in different ways. That could be a takeaway, a neighbourhood restaurant or fine dining. None of those versions is more authentic than another.
For me, it's about Caribbean food being allowed the same freedom that other cuisines have, to evolve, experiment and still be respected for where it comes from.
And what would you like to see less of?
I'd like to see less Caribbean food being put into one box.
There's sometimes an expectation that Caribbean food has to look or be served a particular way to be considered authentic. I don't agree with that. You can respect tradition without being restricted by it.
I also think we need to move away from treating Caribbean food as though it should always be cheap. There are generations of knowledge, technique and culture behind these dishes and ingredients. There's room for the £10 plate and there's room for the tasting menu. Both can represent Caribbean food properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 2210 by NattyCanCook? 2210 is the debut restaurant from chef Nathaniel Mortley, known as NattyCanCook, serving elevated pan-Caribbean cooking in Herne Hill, London.
What kind of food does 2210 serve? 2210 serves an elevated pan-Caribbean menu blending Bajan, Jamaican and Guyanese flavours with classic French technique, including a Sunday Caribbean-style roast.
Who is NattyCanCook? NattyCanCook is the professional name of chef Nathaniel Mortley, who was named “One to Watch” in Condé Nast Traveller's 2025 UK Top New Restaurant Awards.
2210, Norwood Road, London SE24 9AA, and is open Wednesday to Sunday.
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