How Japan's cooking culture forever changed London's restaurants

Omakase — the Japanese equivalent of the tasting menu, which translates as “I’ll leave it up to you” — has been one of the biggest restaurant trends of the past 18 months. Yet in among the small plates of ikejime sea bass and charcoal-grilled wagyu being handed over impeccably buffed cedar counters in the capital’s smartest postcodes, one restaurant stands out for the uniqueness of its offering. Juno Omakase (2-4 Farmer Street, W8 7SN, losmochis.co.uk) in Notting Hill Gate, which opened in January, offers a hybrid of Mexican and Japanese cuisine. Or in the words of executive chef Leonard Tanyag: “Tokyo meets Tulum.”

Owner Markus Thelseff and Tanyag hit upon the culinary theme during the pandemic — in part because no one else was doing it, and in part because Mexican is the chef’s favourite style of food. Is that enough to launch a restaurant with? Probably.