Latest opening: Ikoyi
What: The relaunch of one of the capital’s most awarded and cutting-edge restaurants. Ikoyi has moved from a cramped site in St James’s Market to a much larger space within 180 The Strand, a recently overhauled Brutalist building that’s largely pitched at creatives comprising a private members club and numerous exhibition and events spaces. Ikoyi 2.0 - as it is not called - has a similar number of covers to its predecessor but now boasts a huge fully open kitchen, a far more spacious dining room and a private dining area.
Who: Ikoyi was founded in 2017 by chef Jeremy Chan and his school friend Iré Hassan-Odukale. Initially billed as a Nigerian restaurant, the venture had a bumpy start but things picked up when the duo went tasting menu-only and won their first Michelin star. Last year, the restaurant was awarded a second star and also made it onto the The World’s 50 Best Restaurant’s list for the first time.
The vibe: Ikoyi’s second iteration has been designed by acclaimed Danish architect and designer David Thulstrup. Working closely with Chan and Hassan-Odukale, Thulstrup has created a strikingly modern space that has already taken home design magazine Wallpaper’s award for Best Restaurant. Apparently inspired by a mood board created by the pair that included cathedral architecture and Ridley Scott film sets, Ikoyi’s second iteration features textured copper wall panels, a grey stone floor and a ceiling constructed from steel mesh. While the lighting might not be the greatest for food pics it is beautifully judged: Chan says he wanted the interior to glow like a lantern, and that’s exactly what it does.
The food: Chan’s food isn’t getting any easier to pigeon hole. The restaurant might be named after a district in the Nigerian capital, but these days the cooking is not really of a place. Controlled use of spice is a hallmark, as is the procurement and careful handling of top quality produce from Britain and, occasionally, further afield. Some dishes do reference Ikoyi and Hassan-Odukale’s Nigerian roots, including plantain, spiced efo and roasted peanut; and smoked jollof rice (now served with chunks of lobster). Other dishes on the current tasting menu include mussel and saffron creme caramel with N25 Caviar; octopus morels and peas; sweetbread with duck and coffee; and almond butter and einkhorn wheat. The price of the tasting menu is £300 before drinks and service, putting Ikoyi right up there with the most expensive restaurants in the country (a shorter £180 menu is available at lunchtime on Wednesdays and Thursdays).
To drink: With barely any storage space, the original Ikoyi was only able to offer a tiny wine list. Sommelier Lorenzo Lentini now presides over a much more extensive, naturally-leaning list and also offers a tea pairing.
And another thing: The duo are looking to run their new restaurant in a manner that works better for themselves and their staff. Ikoyi is only open Monday to Friday and diners are requested to arrive for dinner before 7pm to allow the team to get out at a decent time (in a recent interview, Chan said that he hoped the kitchen would send out its last plate of food before 9pm). The pair have indicated that they would consider switching back to a more traditional operating model should this potentially divisive approach to running a top-flight restaurant not work out, but with a huge backlog of reservations carried over from their previous place they are able to call the shots for the moment.
