S antiago Lastra first realised his love of cooking thanks to a packet of crackers. The Mexican-born chef, who was more interested in maths than anything else as a teenager, decided to try his hand at the basic crab dip that was listed on the back of the cracker box. Before long, he had discovered a new passion.
He soon got his hands on an Italian cookbook, and later applied for a job in the kitchen at a local Italian restaurant. Lastra, who is the mastermind behind the Michelin-starred KOL in London, began his formal culinary studies at Arte Culinario Coronado in Mexico, before getting his masters at the Basque Culinary Centre in Spain and undergoing another course at the Nordic Food Lab at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Lastra then went on to work with a long list of esteemed chefs, including René Redzepi of Noma, who helped encourage him to weave his love of Mexican cuisine with the local ingredients available in Europe.
The result became the unique combination of flavours now reflected on the menu at KOL..