The September opening is seemingly set to have it all, from all-day brunch to Hawaii- inspired food from a Paul McCartney- approved chef.
An enormous townhouse in Covent Garden has been restored and revived and is set to open in September with three restaurants and a coffee shop spread over its five floors, including Chef Luis Pous’ latest offering El Takoy.
Of all the offerings, Luis Pous may offer the venue’s biggest draw. The chef, who will run El Ta’Koy in the building’s basement, has a long and faintly glamourous history of cooking for A-listers, having served the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna and even Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. He also cooked, by request, for Sir Paul McCartney and his staff. Recalling the meal, Pous told the Standard: “He loved my vegetable terrine in particular, so much so he came out to ask me to make more for him for the next day to take it to the concert!”
Pous is otherwise best known in London for his work at the now-closed celebrity hangout, Asia de Cuba, which built a following on the strength of its “Chino- Latino” fusion food. El Ta’Koy though, Pous says, will be “a personal representation of my work in the island of Kauai Hawaii, where everything came together for me as a chef.”
The menu’s influences, he adds, will come from “the islands of Hawaii and the Pacific rim, all the way down to South America and a hint of the Caribbean, where I’m from.” Dishes will include the likes of tacos, lumpias – the spring rolls commonly found in the Philippines and Indonesia – furikake shrimp with wasabi and what Pous dubs “guacapoke”, a mix of guacamole with different poke toppings. Cocktails will be tiki-inspired.
El Takoy opens in London on 14th October 2021.