Best Restaurant

Ikoyi, London, by Studio David Thulstrup

- By Tf Chan

Ikoyi’s rise has been nothing short of meteoric. Since opening in London’s St James’s in 2017, the restaurant – which channels chef Jeremy Chan and co-founder Iré Hassan-Odukale’s cultures and experiences into an original cuisine with an emphasis on West African flavours – has received two Michelin stars, earned a coveted spot on the World’s 50 Best list and, among those in the know, garnered the sort of bright-eyed enthusiasm that recalls the early days of Noma. To these impressive credentials, it can now add a one-of-a-kind new home in the brutalist office block-turned-cultural hub that is 180 The Strand.

Designed by Danish architect David Thulstrup (who, incidentally, created the interiors for Noma’s current location in Copenhagen, and met Chan and Hassan-Odukale through Wallpaper*), the street-level space reflects the founders’ vision of global modernism – ‘placeless, free, unfixed and personal’. Taking cues from their mood boards, whose contents ranged from the set designs of Ridley Scott films to cathedral architecture and Richard Serra sculptures, Thulstrup’s interior is minimalist but lavishly textured.