It speaks volumes that the kitchen takes up almost a third of the restaurant. Remarkably, there are only 35 seats available here. Twenty-eight are spread over eight tables on the ground floor and can only be reserved by telephone, while upstairs, at the chef’s counter, seven are reserved for walk-ins. Naturally, no expense has been spared when it comes to the furnishings; even the lighting has been carefully installed so as not to cast shadows on the tables, while the serving station has been carved in Italy from an 1,800kg slab of Devon stone and a hand-painted mosaic inspired by the work of Guido Mocafico adorns the floor above. Jayasekara and Jefferies’ joint masterpiece, however, might be the 14-seat private dining room, complete with gold lattice work and a Saracen fireplace.
As for The Cocochine’s menu, it is composed by ingredients and served a la carte, with a single service for lunch and dinner. Tellingly, Jayasekara toured more than 25 countries to establish his network of suppliers: think reindeer and cloudberries from Norway; single-origin chocolate through a specialist from Suffolk; tuna and mirin from Tokyo; and coconut cream from – where else? – Sri Lanka. “Each dish will be a signature dish,” says Jayasekara when I ask if there’s anything on the menu he’s particularly excited about, although he admits he has a certain preference for a dessert that combines caviar and chocolate, which he considers considers a revealing combination. . “A successful restaurant is always a matter of harmony – in terms of ingredients, in terms of partners, in terms of suppliers,” he muses. “Back of the house and front of the house. When these all come together, you have a fantastic marriage. Otherwise it’s a divorce every night.”
