Bruton Place has quietly transformed into one of Mayfair’s most magnetic little food streets, and now it has an official accolade to prove it: The Cocochine has just won LaListe’s UK Opening of the Year award. We foresee many more awards to follow, and walking through its door, it makes complete sense. As the evening unfolded, it felt like a love letter to gastronomy, enchanting all of the senses. At first glance, warm light, low murmurs, polished wood, and walls hung with serious art. Pieces by Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Matisse and Peter Beard line the space as though you’ve stepped into someone’s impossibly cultured home. And that, I’d soon realise, is very much the point.
Chef Larry Jayasekara, whose Michelin-starred training spans Petrus, Marcus Wareing, Le Manoir and The Waterside Inn, opened The Cocochine in 2024 as his most personal project to date. The recent award only underscores what’s already clear: his identity is everywhere, from the Sri Lankan notes flickering through the menu to the extraordinary ingredients sourced almost entirely from Rowler Farm. The restaurant sources 95% of its produce from Rowler Farm Estate in Northamptonshire and Tanera Mòr, an island off the northwest coast of Scotland. This 1,100-acre Northamptonshire estate functions as the restaurant’s private supply chain. Larry and the team visit every Sunday to choose the week’s produce—vegetables, fruit, herbs, flowers, livestock, even the barley and wheat used in the bread. It’s rare, it’s meticulous, and it shows.
The importance of the recent award cannot be underestimated. LaListe states that its awards are “dedicated to the global world of cuisine to celebrate talents, creativity, innovation and craftsmanship.” Designed to help global travellers choose the best destination dining experiences, LaListe’s guide is curated from more than 1,100 expert sources and millions of online reviews. This is a HUGE accolade on a global scale, and we should be proud of having such an establishment in London.
I arrived on a crisp winter evening to try the new seasonal tasting menu, and from the first canapé, you understand precisely why global guides are paying attention. We perched at the counter with a full view of the kitchen, which was such an interactive and exciting experience. The snacks and the breads really state Larry’s intention. Snacks included a wild sea trout tart, a cheese doughnut with a variety of aged cheese and a caviar canape. Then came the bread, which deserves its own mention. When the wheat, barley and oats all come directly from a single farm, you taste that nuttiness, that depth, that straight-from-the-earth freshness. A Sri Lankan brioche-laden savoury bun was recommended to be enjoyed first before the most perfect sourdough. So perfect, we took half of it home!
A Ceylon King Crab salad came as a delicate, chilled mound with consommé poured tableside, the apple giving it a bright, almost crystalline lift. Then came the dish already whispered about across London: the XXL hand-dived scallop from Tanera Mòr Island, the Scottish fishing village that now provides most of the restaurant’s seafood. Enormous, sweet, almost velvety, it arrived with mushrooms, pandan and a touch of cloudberries, one of those dishes that stops a conversation mid-sentence.
Friend of Luxuriate Life Douglas Blyde also recommended a dish he had tasted – a Rowler Farm venison tartare. Larry prepared the venison right then and there, chopping and seasoning the most tender cuts and balancing them with some Sri Lankan herbs. The tenderness of the venison comes from how it’s fed, and this dish was a winner.
After the scallop’s lightness, the Rowler Farm Sika deer graced the menu again. Beautifully cooked and served with coconut, soubise and a subtle smear of bitter chocolate, it tasted like autumn—tender, earthy, confident.
Dessert was the boldest plate of the night: ice cream topped with golden caviar. Sweet, salty, silky—somehow completely logical. The pearls sat like jewels on the ice cream, every spoonful a study in contrasts that shouldn’t work but absolutely do. A reminder that Larry’s cooking is always two steps ahead without ever abandoning comfort.
For those not up for nine courses, there’s now a three-course option including canapés, bread and petit fours. And if lunch fits better, The Cocochine has just launched a Set Lunch Menu—£29 for two courses or £39 for three. Dishes change fortnightly, but recent highlights include Scottish lobster raviolo with spiced coconut and a slow-cooked Rowler Farm beef pie with red wine jus. It’s easily one of the best-value luxury lunches in Mayfair right now.
Between courses, I slipped upstairs to see the Private Dining Room on the second floor. “Room” is an understatement. It’s a 1,200 sq ft apartment-style space with a double-height ceiling, fireplace, oversized windows, sofas, and its own bar and kitchen area. Truly one of the most beautiful private dining spaces in London—like borrowing a friend’s Mayfair penthouse for the evening.
Downstairs, the wine cellar is equally impressive. With 400 bins and 20 available by the glass, we were encouraged to walk through, ask questions, touch bottles, and participate. It’s one of the few Mayfair restaurants where wine feels playful rather than intimidating.
Before leaving Bruton Place, I crossed the street to The Rex Deli, The Cocochine’s charming sibling. The 300-year-old former stable serves pastries, salads, Sri Lankan curries and its legendary Rowler Farm sausage roll by day, transforming into a cosy wine bar by night—a great pre- or post-Cocochine stop.
Walking back onto Bruton Place, complete, glowing, it was apparent why LaListe recognised The Cocochine so quickly. This isn’t just another fine-dining restaurant; it’s a world Chef Larry has built from the soil up, where art, farming, heritage and technique sit at the same table. And you, if you’re lucky, sit right at the centre of it.
For more information, visit The Cocochine.
Ver esta publicación en Instagram
Photography courtesy of The Cocochine Mayfair.