shane eaton 5/14/26 shane eaton 5/14/26

The Cocochine (London)

Walking into Chef Larry Jayasekara’s The Cocochine feels less like entering a new Mayfair restaurant and more like stepping into a deeply personal, four-storey townhouse that has been thoughtfully curated over time. Every floor has its own mood and level of intimacy.

Below street level is the quiet, hushed wine cellar. There is even a small seating area right next to the racks where you can begin or extend your evening with a rare wine chosen from a collection built with incredible care.

On the ground floor, you find the heart of the house. It holds just eight generously spaced tables, seating 28 guests. With warm banquette seating and a buzz that never gets too loud, it feels intimate rather than claustrophobic. This is where you settle in for the à la carte menu, a three-course meal bookended by a parade of snacks and delicate petits fours. The pricing reflects the Mayfair postcode, but the quality completely backs it up.

However, the real action is Chef Larry’s tasting menu upstairs. Only seven guests sit at a counter overlooking the open kitchen, turning dinner into a natural conversation with the culinary team. Under a specially commissioned mosaic, the menu shifts constantly based on what is currently maturing at their farm.

The top floor is the most exclusive space, featuring a double-height private dining room for up to 14 guests, decorated with original art from Hamiltons Gallery. Here, Larry offers a culinary blank canvas. He mentions, with a quiet confidence, that if you give him enough notice, he will cook absolutely anything you want. There is even a fireplace to relax by with a post-dinner whisky or arrak.

While Larry’s foundations are rooted in classical French training, the soul of his food comes from his childhood memories in Sri Lanka, all grounded by fresh British produce. It is a style that manages to be technically rigorous yet incredibly warm. Dishes arrive with Michelin-level precision, but they speak a different language, one where curry leaves, coconut cream, kithul treacle, and pandan sit naturally alongside wild turbot and caviar.

The current menu feels like a chef at the absolute peak of his powers. Here is a look at what to expect during the meal.

Signature Rowler Farm Garden Salad, Nettle Pesto, Homemade Dressing

This is the farm on a plate. Larry hand-picks these leaves, herbs, and flowers during his weekly visits to Northamptonshire. Tossed with a pesto made from foraged nettles and a seasonal dressing. This extraordinary dish was the best salad I have ever had.

Sourdough with Rowler Farm Rosemary Butter, Glazed with Kithul & Sea Salt

Bread is a standalone highlight here. The substantial sourdough is made from grain that reflects the soil of Rowler Farm. It is served with butter made from the farm's own herbs and finished with a glaze of kithul, a sweet, faintly smoky treacle tapped from Sri Lankan fishtail palms, and a pinch of sea salt.

Ceylon King Crab Salad, Consommé, Apple

This dish connects directly to Larry's roots, pairing sweet king crab meat with a crystal-clear consommé of remarkable depth, balanced by the clean brightness of apple.

XXL Hand-Dived Scallop, Mushrooms, Pandan

These fist-sized scallops are hand-diver sourced from cold Scottish waters. Paired with earthy mushrooms and the sweet, grassy aroma of pandan, it is a combination of dramatic contrasts that works in total harmony.

Fillet of Scottish Wild Turbot, Coconut, Spiced Wild Prawn Sauce

Wild Scottish turbot is a king ingredient in classical French cooking, but Larry gives it a completely fresh translation. The sauce is built from wild prawns, spiced with restraint and enriched with pure Sri Lankan coconut cream. This dish perfectly captures his culinary identity.

Banana Leaf BBQ Native Lobster, Rice Pot, Spices, Emulsion

Sweeter and more complex than its Canadian counterpart, the native lobster is wrapped in a banana leaf and cooked over an open flame. This ancient South Asian method protects the delicate meat while infusing it with a gentle, green smokiness. Served alongside a spiced rice pot and a silky emulsion, this was my favorite dish of the night.

Rowler Farm Dry-Aged Spring Lamb, Tomatoes, Black Pepper, Jus

The farm at its most direct. The spring lamb is dry-aged on-site to concentrate the flavor, then served with sweet tomatoes and the gentle heat of black pepper in a rich, glossy jus.

'Watalappam'

This dessert defines the restaurant. Watalappam is a traditional Sri Lankan steamed custard made with coconut milk, jaggery, and warm spices. Here, it is reimagined as a delicate crème caramel. Served with cool crème fraîche ice cream and a bold crown of golden Oscietra caviar, the briny minerality cuts through the sweetness with incredible precision.

Somewhere between the scallop and the turbot, you realize what makes The Cocochine so special. It isn't a restaurant just performing its influences or hiding behind generic terms like global flavors. It has found its own distinct language and speaks it fluently from the very first bite.

shane eaton 5/3/26 shane eaton 5/3/26

Barcelona Cocktail Festival

Giuseppe Gallo and Giacomo Giannotti of BCF

Formerly known as the Paradiso Sustainability Summit, Barcelona Cocktail Festival (BCF) marked its fifth anniversary with a rebrand that felt less like a name change and more like a genuine coming-of-age. Taking place on 18th and 19th April 2026 at Palo Alto in Poblenou, BCF was the brainchild of two people who, between them, seemed to have cornered the market on knowing what the bar world actually needed: Giacomo Giannotti, the Tuscan-born, Barcelona-based bartender behind Paradiso, currently ranked No.4 on The World's 50 Best Bars, and Giuseppe Gallo of ItalSpirits, whose fluency in brand building and hospitality marketing gave the whole enterprise its reach and polish.

Giacomo was, in many ways, the soul of BCF. He moved to Barcelona in 2012, cut his teeth at the Eclipse Bar at the W Hotel and the Ohla under Giuseppe Santamaria, and then in 2015 opened a speakeasy hidden behind a pastrami shop. That bar, Paradiso, went on to be named The World's Best Bar in 2022. Since then, he has opened Galileo, a cocktail bistro, and Monk, a hidden bar in Carrer Abaixadors, and taken the Paradiso name to Dubai and Ibiza. The festival, programmed by Giacomo in collaboration with The Sustainable Restaurant Association, carried the same restless, forward-looking energy as his bars.

The 2026 theme, "FutureProof: Reimagining the Industry for What Comes Next," shaped a genuinely thoughtful programme of talks ranging from the provocative to the practical. Saturday's panels were a particular highlight. The day opened with a conversation about Barcelona's bar scene, moderated by Giacomo himself, with panelists including Cesar Montillas of Dr Stravinsky and Theo Quinn of FOCO. A session on women shaping the industry brought together Antonella Nonino, Margarita Sader of Paradiso, Inés de Los Santos of CoChinChina and Julie Reiner of Milady's. Charlotte Voisey of Tales of the Cocktail then moderated a panel asking "Why the Bar Still Matters?", with Vijay Mudaliar of Native and Fabio Fanni of Locale Firenze among those making the case.

Beyond the panels, the SRA-shaped programme tackled questions rarely heard at drinks events: where cocktail emissions actually originated, what it meant to design with scarcity, whether AI could taste, and what drinking might look like in 2075. Whether or not guests left with answers, they left thinking.

The festival unfolded across the leafy creative hub of Palo Alto, a venue that suited it perfectly. Guests moved between tasting counters, brand showcases and masterclasses, with headline pop-ups from Himkok (Oslo), Native (Singapore), Alquimico (Cartagena), Roda Huset (Stockholm) and Angelita (Madrid), all with service curated by the Paradiso crew.

What Giacomo and Giuseppe built was something the bar world had been quietly asking for: an event that took sustainability and the future of hospitality seriously, opened its doors to consumers and locals without diluting industry value, and put Barcelona right at the centre of the conversation about what comes next.