Sally Abé

Sally Abé knows British cuisine through and through. Her restaurant The Pem is at the Conrad London St James and she has worked in some of the UK’s top kitchens including Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, and The Ledbury.

After five years, Sally took a break from the kitchen to explore other areas of the industry. When Sally was younger, she wanted to be a journalist, and she took this opportunity to combine her love of writing and cooking, and was appointed Technical Food Editor at Great British Chefs. Sally spent a year and a half with the GBC team, creating and editing recipes alongside food styling for photoshoots.

In 2016 Sally returned to the kitchen, and in 2017 was invited to take over as Head Chef at The Harwood Arms where she not only retained the pub’s Michelin star, but also placed the pub as the number one gastropub in the UK in Estrella Damm’s Top 50 Gastropubs for the very first time. In 2021 Sally was appointed as Consultant Chef by the Conrad London St James where she runs The Pem, named after suffragette Emily Wilding Davison, and works with a nearly-all female team - something unique and rare in fine dining. For her incredible work, she was shortlisted for GQ’s overall Chef of the Year 2021, and was voted Chef of the Year at the SquareMeal and Champagne AYALA  Female Chef Awards in 2021.

Sally’ memoir, A WOMAN’S PLACE IS IN THE KITCHEN, which follows her journey through the hospitality industry, was published by Fleet in June 2024.