For Café Cecilia Chef Max Rocha, a New Cookbook Is a Family Affair

Taking the helm of Café Cecilia, one of London’s most buzzed-about restaurants, was almost accidental for Max Rocha. The chef, who grew up in Ireland, debuted Café Cecilia in Hackney in August of 2021 after working at beloved eateries like The River Cafe, St. John Bread & Wine and Spring. It has since become a must-go spot, thanks to the food and the understated cool vibe of the dining room itself, which Rocha designed alongside his father, fashion designer John Rocha. Now, the younger Rocha has written his own cookbook, Café Cecilia Cookbook, to share the restaurant’s dishes beyond its walls. 

“When we first opened, I never thought I would do a cookbook,” Rocha tells Observer. “I didn’t think I had one in me. I didn’t even have a restaurant in me, to be honest. But in the first year, I was approached by Phaidon and they asked, ‘Do you want to do a cookbook?’ They make my favorite books, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever get another shot at it, so I thought, ‘Why not?’ It gave me more belief in myself, because I suffered from lack of confidence in myself and my cooking and what I can do.”

Both the restaurant’s menu and the cookbook draw on Rocha’s experience working in London kitchens, as well as his mother, Odette’s, personal recipes. It’s a decidedly fashionable book, as expected from the son of an acclaimed designer (Rocha’s sister, Simone Rocha, is also a fashion designer, and has dressed Rihanna, Chloë Sevigny and Alexa Chung), and Rocha is clear that putting it together was a “team effort” despite it listing him as the author. 

“The book isn’t about me,” he says. “That’s why there’s only one small picture of me in the book. I didn’t want it to be a ‘Max’ cookbook, you know? I wanted to be Café Cecilia. I want the café to be its own thing. I don’t want to be the star of the show. I want it to be about the team who is making this great food.”

Like the book, Café Cecilia has been a group effort, both from Rocha’s family and from his staff. But it’s also thanks to the loyal customers that word-of-mouth has made the restaurant so buzzy. For Rocha, who catered fashion shows before opening the café, the entire process has been a massive learning experience, with a lot of trial and error along the way. 

“My mom and dad give me advice every day,” he says. “I can’t do it on my own, and that’s something I had to learn owning a restaurant. It’s a team effort with so many different cogs to it. I had to learn how to drop my ego and then ask for help.” 

As part of releasing Café Cecilia Cookbook, Rocha is heading to New York City on his book tour, with pop-up events at Wildair, Lord’s and Collo in the coming weeks. Curious diners can expect his famous Guinness bread, a staple at Café Cecilia, as well as several of the restaurant’s other signature dishes. “Expect classics,” he says. “Depending on which one you come to, you can either have the full café experience or a smaller pop-up.” 

Ahead of his book release, Rocha spoke with Observer on opening Café Cecilia, the must-have dishes, creating the cookbook and why dropping his ego was the best possible thing for his success. 

Observer: What was your initial vision for Café Cecilia?

Max Rocha: It’s changed so much from what I was expecting to do. I was expecting more of a lunch place with salads and sandwiches, because I thought the tempo would suit me better. But over time, I wanted to cook more and I was blowing the food out to be for special occasions. The best way to think of it is a fancy canteen. I wanted to do a special place where you could go for your birthday but also pop in during the week. A go-to for all occasions. 

Is that the sort of restaurant you grew up going to? 

Yeah; big, busy restaurants. Brasserie-type places like you go to in France. I’ve gone more towards the fine casual restaurant than fine dining. I feel more comfortable in those places. And I feel more comfortable cooking in one. Good home cooking. 

How much have you drawn on home cooking in the restaurant and for your new cookbook? 

About half and half. Half is home cooking and dishes my mom makes, and then half are things I’ve learned in other kitchens. And now part of it comes from the chefs who work with me and the ideas they bring to the table. Most of the stuff in the book is driven towards the home cook, and it’s accessible because I find so many cookbooks nowadays are so complicated, and it’s hard to get the ingredients. But for my book, you can get them all in your local Tesco. If you want to be fancy, you can go to the fancy butcher and buy that meat. But I like that you can buy all of the ingredients at a local supermarket.  

You mentioned a lack of confidence. How did you feel once the restaurant started having success?

It went the opposite way. In the first few months, I got too confident, and it wasn’t good for me. I don’t think quick success is good for anyone, because it can turn you egotistical and it can turn you into a person who is not very caring and supportive. I had to change the way I was running the restaurant, and now I think I’m in a good place. It was fake confidence, you know? It wasn’t the authentic me. I was drinking too much. I was not the good person I wanted to be. I think I’m more confident in the restaurant now because I’m a better boss and a better chef. I made the decision to give up alcohol and drugs two years ago, and now I’m a better person for it. So I feel more confident in the person I am. I’m still working on the cooking confidence part. Sometimes I feel like a bit of an imposter still, to be honest with you. 

What did you plan on doing if you didn’t open a restaurant?

Opening a café. Like a really nice coffee shop. I didn’t think I could do a restaurant. We opened with no nights, just for lunch. But the reality is, to make our business work with the food we wanted to cook, you have to open at night because it’s not busy enough at lunchtime. You have to sell drinks. So the hope was a nice café, but now I’m in the restaurant game. 

What’s been the most surprising thing about the restaurant game? 

Free food when you go out to eat! When my girlfriend and I will go out for a meal she’s like, “We have to eat less since we’re out so much!” But I think chefs know how hard other chefs work, so they treat them well in restaurants. But it gives me anxiety sometimes. I’ve also learned that you need a work-life balance. When working for other chefs, you don’t have a say in the hours. You work a lot of nights. Now, I’m my own boss and I’m in a position to have hired enough people so I don’t burn out, and that is better for me and for my staff. I also don’t work nights, which is a godsend. If people are away, I’ll fill in on a night, but mainly just the lunch shifts. 

Are there some dishes that have worked well, and others that have not worked for Café Cecilia’s concept?

One dish that did not work was a chicken Kiev with quail, and it just didn’t fit for us. Panna cottas, for some reason, don’t work in the café. When we opened, I really wanted to do more sandwiches during the week, and I put them on the menu and I put toasties on the menu and no one ordered them. They just didn’t sell. People tend to like the fancier items. The dishes we can’t get rid of are the deep-fried bread and butter pudding, the sage and anchovy fritti, the onglet in peppercorn sauce. Those dishes are paying the wages. They keep the lights on. And it’s good to have a few of those dishes. When we opened my dad said, “You have to have a couple of signatures.” Now I know what he meant. People want something to come back for. 

How does you mom feel about having her recipes incorporated into your cooking?

She loves it. She’s so proud of me. She’s so supportive. She gets a bit embarrassed when I put her name on the menu, but she is a huge supporter to us. And when she comes in, if it’s not top-notch, she’ll tell me. And I need to know that. The only way you’re going to get better is if you ask for honest advice and people give it. 

Did you have to reverse-engineer your dishes to figure out the actual recipes for the book?

Oh my God, it was so stressful. I just cook intuitively, apart from baking, so I had to go back to square one with all of them and lay everything out. That was the hardest part. Dissecting the recipes into enough for four people. Because we make recipes for 40 people. We’ll make a batch of sauce for 50 people. So to make it for four people was quite challenging. I had to take some time off from working in the kitchen to finish the book, and it made me realize I can have some time off for myself to work on something else. I don’t need to be there 16 hours a day. So in that sense, it was quite good. 

What was the one dish you absolutely had to include in the book?

Guinness bread. Everyone was adamant for it to be in there, and I was happy to include it. It’s not a secret. Guinness bread saved my life. I learned how to bake when I was in a very dark place, and my mom showed me how to make Guinness bread. Hopefully, I can help other people learn to make it. It’s a really powerful tool. It’s a really simple way to make something that is really beautiful. Baking is tricky, but anyone can make this. It’s a beginner’s bread and hopefully it gets people into baking. 

Anyone can make it?

Anyone! If I could learn, you can. I wasn’t into cooking before I went into a kitchen. I was buying stir-fry kits at the grocery store. And then 12 years ago, I needed a job and I went into the kitchen as a commis chef and got taught everything. If I can become a chef and open a restaurant, I really think anybody can. You should have seen me in those first few years. I was a terrible cook! That’s why my book is home cook-friendly, because that’s what I feel most comfortable showing people how to do. If I could do the foams and all that other stuff, I would. 

What’s the most memorable meal you’ve had recently?

I went to The Guinea Grill in Mayfair. It’s a steakhouse pub with a little dining room in the back. I did a 10k race with my girlfriend in the morning on a Saturday and we went there after, and it’s the best steak I’ve ever had. I got a side of black pudding. So we had a steak, black pudding, chips and sticky toffee pudding after our race. One of the hardest things about giving up drinking is not having a Guinness because they do such good Guinness, but the meal was amazing. 

What are your other top London recommendations?

Quality Chop House is my favorite. I love this Chinese restaurant called The Eight on Shaftesbury Avenue. I always go there with my dad because he’s from Hong Kong. It’s a real Hong Kong canteen. It’s the best place to go for lunch. I really like Koya Ko Hackney on Broadway Market. I go across there for lunch sometimes if I’m not eating at the café.