On a roll
Romeo San, Holland Park listings, best breakfast, Carousel, Restaurant Sat Bains, Andalusia, Not Just A Shop, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Keep it brief
The Skinny: Opened last month, Romeo San is a walk-in only temaki spot inspired by handroll bars in Japan and Los Angeles. It shares owners with Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte down the street, another restaurant with a short menu and no reservations.
The Vibe: Sleek and minimalist, pairing concrete and wood, true to Japanese interiors, with decorative red lights on the sparse walls and an upbeat playlist mitigating the austerity. There are no tables, just 24 counter seats in front of two chefs. Rather than a leisurely meal, it’s geared towards a quick lunch or dinner, as your handrolls appear in rapid succession (my lunch lasted less than 30 minutes).
The Food: Temaki options like yuzu salmon and truffled crab are offered either individually or as a set menu (between three and six rolls). Caviar is on offer as an add-on for all of the handrolls and there are specials with Wagyu and uni. Dessert is cheesecake mochi.
The Drink: There’s a short bar list — two types of sake and the Japanese beer Asahi in alcoholic and N/A forms — as well as a few sodas and green tea.
The Verdict: A very nice addition to Marylebone, particularly for the lunch crowd who wants high-quality food without a fuss or a long wait. –Emily Zemler
→ Romeo San (Marylebone) • 38 George St • Mon-Thu 12-230p & 5-930p, Fri-Sat 1230-3p, 530-10p • Walk-ins only.
LONDON RESTAURANT LINKS: Chef Thomas Straker opens all-day restaurant and deli Acre in Notting Hill • Chelsea pub The Butcher’s Tap and Grill closes, flipping into The Chalk Freehouse • On Cavendish Square, Japanese restaurant Aki opening this fall with a bar in old bank vault.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale, four-bedroom properties in Holland Park that recently came to market:
→ Russell Garden Mews (Holland Park) • 4BR/3BA/2R, 204 m2 terraced house • Asking price: £2.1mn • wrap-around living area, garage with stable door • Ownership type: freehold • Agents: William Duckworth-Chad & Toby Anderdon, Savills.
→ Holland Park Gardens (Holland Park Gardens) • 4BR/3BA, 193 m2 maisonette • Asking price: £3.075mn • 2 floors of Victorian villa with direct access to private communal gardens • Ownership type: share of freehold • Agent: The Modern House.
→ St. Anns Villas (Holland Park, above) • 4BR/3BA/4R, NA m2 end terrace house • Guide price: £5.2mn • refurbished 1845 Tudor-Gothic on tree-lined street • Ownership type: freehold • Agent: Olivia Eldridge, Strutt & Parker.
WORK & PLAY LINKS: Inside the mind-blowing new V&A East Storehouse museum in Stratford • Chelsea neighbours angered by tech mogul’s lavish megabasement plans • Vince’s new Marylebone flagship brings the California dream to London • Grosvenor Square to close for more than a year for radical garden makeover • Do you have Ozempic hair?
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Breakfast
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of London’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundldn.com.
E. Pellecci (Bethnal Green), East London caff serving up classic English breakfast for over 100 years
The Wolseley (Mayfair), posh iteration served w/ the works and choice of eggs
Regency Cafe (Victoria), London staple since 1946, budget-friendly breakfast deal that includes coffee or tea
Koya (Soho), Japanese udon spot, English breakfast noodle bowl accompanied by egg, bacon, shiitake
Terry’s Cafe (Borough, above), selection of hearty fry ups ranging from traditional to vegetarian
Mallow (Borough), plant-based variation w/ scrambled tofu and maple baked beans
Arthur's Cafe (Kensal Rise), local cafe w/ generous, no-frills fry ups
Dishoom (Shoreditch), Bombay-inspired version with akuri, masala beans, buttered buns
Mount St. Restaurant (Mayfair), high-end, artful approach to breakfast
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Round and round
ED TEMPLETON • director and co-founder • Carousel
Neighbourhood you work in: Fitzrovia
Neighbourhood you live in: Highbury
It’s Wednesday morning, what’s the scene at your workplace?
There's always so much going on at Carousel, I try to be at the restaurant as often as I can. Every day is different, and I really feed off the energy of the place. Our guest chefs are evenings-only, so we work out of the chef residency kitchen during the day. My clothes often end up smelling of onions, but I love being close to the action and getting to know all the different characters who come and cook with us.
What’s on the agenda for today?
A call with a festival partner for the summer, interviewing a new hire, shortlisting dishes for an upcoming neighbourhood opening, catching up with our PR team at Gemma Bell & Company, Carousel's weekly operations meeting, checking in with the Ashcombe estate team on our upcoming WildKitchen collaboration. And right this second, typing up my notes from yesterday's strategy meeting at Shoreditch Arts Club (with a bánh mì for company).
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
My kids (2 and 4) are obsessed with Tofu Vegan, so we'll probably go there for a family lunch this weekend. I've also got dinner on Thursday at an unassuming place called Raavi Kebab on Drummond Street. We're the UK operator of Goila Butter Chicken (a happy accident born out of the pandemic). Ahead of our launch at Fulham Pier in a couple of months, my friend who's from Delhi (and a big Goila Butter Chicken fan) has vowed to take me to all his favourite Indian spots for menu inspiration.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I recently took my kids to the British Museum. They were really taken with the hieroglyphics, although the main talking point has been the chocolate muffin I bribed them with to survive the hour-long queue. My brother (and Carousel co-founder) Ollie got us tickets for Eliades Ochoa at the Barbican. He's the last remaining member of the Buena Vista Social Club. Our dad was a big fan, so we grew up listening to them.
Any weekend getaways?
I'm deep in the maelstrom of having two young children, and with another one on the way, weekend breaks have been thin on the ground. But we recently had a night at Oakley Court in Berkshire which was exactly what we were hoping for — scrabble by the fire, a long walk along the Thames and a night of unbroken sleep. I loved the contrast of the Victorian Gothic and contemporary interiors. No fries on the bar menu though?!
What was your last great vacation?
My dad lived in Andalusia, and my brothers and I have been going since we were kids. Recently, we were there as a family last summer. The coast is amazing with some properly amazing places to eat if you know where to look — Los Marinos José towards Malaga is a big favourite, and I could spend days eating my way around the freidurías of Cádiz. The real beauty, however, lies inland in less trodden cities like Jerez, where you can tour the tabancos for hours, and the incredible landscape of the Los Alcornocales Natural Park, where there are some very special walks.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Cowboys
Lionel Richie • O2 Arena (Greenwich Peninsula) • Fri @ 6p • section 103, £143 per
Robbie Williams • Emirates Stadium (Holloway) • Sat @ 4p • section 19, £115 per
Beyoncé • Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (Tottenham) • Sat @ 5p • section 103, £258 per
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Creative outlet
Stocking only work by UAL students and graduates, Not Just a Shop is a mix of the one-off, the bold, the playful, and the beautiful.
There are hand-printed risograph zines, homewares, sculptural statement earrings, and punchy graphic tees. Don’t think twice about buying something — from experience, I can tell you it will have been snapped up by next week. My most recent remorse was that I didn’t pick up this 4am Studio staircase coffee cup and saucer (above), inspired by the artist’s interest in ancient European stone architecture (luckily, I’ve just discovered this piece is also available from the artist’s website). Since then, I’ve acted quickly to pick up exclusive knitwear from Pluck’d Designs and a gorgeous organic silver ring from Ghost & Bonesetter.
After retail hours, the ‘Not Just A’ bit comes into play. The shop champions creative entrepreneurship, running workshops and events that help emerging designers turn ideas into businesses. From funding opportunities to live briefs and industry mentoring, it helps launch and establish creatives, familiarising them with the business side of the art world. –Amy Rose Holland
→ Shop: Not Just A Shop (Holborn) • 272 High Holborn • Tue-Thu 11a-3p.
GETAWAYS • Nottingham
Garden party
The approach to Restaurant Sat Bains outside Nottingham, tucked off the highway on an inconspicuous road, doesn’t signal a celebrated fine dining restaurant. But once inside the gate, it’s clear how Sat Bains earned its storied reputation. Chef Bains opened the restaurant (which also has seven bedrooms) in 2005, and has since acquired accolade after accolade despite its distance from the buzz of London. The experience is thoughtful, and not overly formal, with flourishes of whimsy and fun often lacking in similar restaurants.
The 10-course seasonal tasting menu shifts between British excellence and global inspiration, incorporating Scottish scallops doused in stewed tomatoes, alongside Cornish tuna tartare served with a dollop of wasabi. Midway through our meal, a server appeared and invited us to one of the greenhouses, where a surprise course of pizza cooked in a fiery oven awaited. It’s unsurprisingly delicious, thanks largely to the accompanying pesto, which was created with many of the herbs surrounding us. In fact, numerous ingredients come from the kitchen gardens and greenhouses.
My meal crescendoed with squab, perfectly cooked and presented with pear, before our journey into desserts began. The “crossover” course consisted of sweet corn ice cream (a personal favourite) and Bains has taken advantage of rhubarb season for a finale that pairs the sour fruit with milk ice cream. Instead of the usual petit fours, a stick of cotton candy arrives, hiding more ice cream beneath the spun sugar. It’s a fun (although intensely sweet) way to end the meal that began nearly three and a half hours earlier.
Some fellow diners headed upstairs to their rooms (which include breakfast, if you can manage it). We weren’t staying over, so we dragged ourselves to the car and drove back into reality. –Emily Zemler
→ Restaurant Sat Bains (Nottingham) • Lenton Ln • Wed-Fri 5-730p, Sat 1-730p • Book.
GETAWAYS LINKS: First look at rooms at relocated Osip near Bruton, Somerset (restaurant intel here) • Rocco Forte Hotels eyes UK country house hotel to rival luxury competitors • At Tuscany’s Monteverde Hotel, checking out the new restaurant designed by Foster & Partners • Collegio alla Querce Auberge is best new place to stay in Florence • Haggling for that European five-star hotel deal.
ASK FOUND
First, a quick primer on how this works: You send us the pressing questions of the day (on dining, services, living in London and surrounds). We all put our heads together (us, FOUND, + you, FOUND subscribers, who are also FOUND) in search of truth and beauty.
Today, three new FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we are seeking intel:
What is your favourite London flower shop (or flower delivery service)?
Who’s your go-to tailor?
What’s your Restaurant of the Summer?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@foundldn.com.