London's Rising Star Chef, Santiago Lastra, Shares Culinary Gems
Meet the chef behind the 23rd-best restaurant in the world
The Relisher is where the world's top chefs reveal their favorite spots in their home cities. This week, we spoke with Santiago Lastra, the chef and co-owner of KOL, a one-Michelin-starred restaurant in London ranked 23rd among the world's best. He's also set to open Fonda later this year.
Originally from Mexico, Chef Santiago honed his skills at Europe's leading dining establishments, including Mugaritz in San Sebastian. However, the career-defining moment that solidified his position as one of the world's most promising chefs came when René Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen selected him to lead the Noma Pop-up in Tulum, Mexico.
In 2020, Chef Santiago opened KOL, which blends Mexican cuisine with British ingredients, and in less than 2.5 years, it earned a spot on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Below, London’s most exciting chef shares his favorite restaurants. (Note: A Google Map with all locations listed is provided at the end of the interview.)
The Best Coffee & Pastry Shops in London
My favorite bakery in town is Pophams Bakery, an all-day kind of place. You can come here in the morning for coffee and pastries, or grab a sandwich/fresh pasta for either lunch or dinner. Everything here, from the coffee to the pastries and sandwiches, is truly amazing.
At the moment, I love their beautiful rhubarb pastry — it's an unbelievably good pastry as you can feel the freshness of the fruit. It's as if they picked it this morning. I like to have it with a flat white coffee. If I visit for lunch, I'll order the cheddar sandwich with the sourdough bread. I adore their sourdough bread — how they make it is pure magic and elevates the sandwich. For me, it's worth the trip to Pophams just for this bread.
