Mayfair may be no stranger to exclusivity, but The Cocochine raises the stakes with a private dining experience that’s as finely curated as the gallery-worthy space it’s served in…
You know a restaurant means business when it boldly prefixes its name with the definite article. So, where Cocochine might conjur up some perfectly adequate fusion offerings to passing clientele, The Cocochine becomes a destination in its own right.
And what a destination. Taking up a four-storey townhouse in Bruton Place – Mayfair’s low-key yet heavyweight restaurant mews – rubbing shoulders with established titans Bellamy’s, The Guinea Grill, Silva and Uma, The Cocochine arrives with stiff competition and the quiet confidence to match.
It’s not just about the food, though. Dining at Cocochine – sorry, The Cocochine – is as much about the experience; how dishes emerge from the kitchen as what arrives on your plate. Dishes are finished tableside. Chefs cross the pass into the dining room. But more than anything, it’s about where you’re eating. The interiors are warm, intimate, alluring; each table feels cosseted, cocooned into its own softly lit booth. So far, so inviting.
But my visit didn’t follow the conventional route. I was heading upwards, to something altogether more intriguing. On the first floor, I glimpsed a seven-seat chef’s counter, designed for pre-dinner drinks and canapés, and a striking floor mosaic commissioned by the owner, Tim Jefferies of Hamiltons Gallery. Then it was up again, to what is effectively The Cocochine’s penthouse: its private dining room.
Private dining, even in London’s finest, can be a hit-and-miss affair; too often it feels like eating in a corporate boardroom. Not here. The Cocochine’s private space feels more like an enviable apartment: there’s a lounge, striking sculptures, a double-height wood-panelled ceiling, and an imposing fireplace as a centrepiece. It elicits a genuine “wow” on entry, and quickly became the evening’s first talking point, swiftly followed by the second; the talent behind this venture.
Larry Jayasekara may not yet be a household name – but he soon will be. Raised in poverty in Sri Lanka, cooking stews from scraps, he met his Devonian wife while teaching surfing. Inspired by a chance viewing of Kitchen Nightmares, he moved to the UK and began jobbing in local kitchens. A bold request to Marcus Wareing for a job earned him encouragement and advice to pursue formal training. Catering college followed, then positions at The Berkeley with Wareing, Gordon Ramsay’s Hospital Road, and Michel Roux. It was during his time at Petrus that Jefferies took notice – and agreed to back him. Fast forward to 2024, and after an extensive refurbishment – which included fitting the ceiling I was staring up at –The Cocochine was born.
After that astonishing story comes a six-course dinner, drawn from the inspiration of a 26-country tour, and it’s a menu that crosses borders, blends influences and features some striking originality. It opens, humbly, with a salad, cropped from their source partner, Rowler Farm, that looks like a floral centrepiece anchored with a bed of pesto so thick you have to cut through it.
There follows a scallop unavailable anywhere else (it’s supplied exclusively by the island off Scotland), and what makes it special is its rare XXL classification; it’s the size of a baseball, served with a chicken jus and a combination of citrus and bacon, it has the consistency of calamari, a lovely, substantial justifiably large mouthful where most are just whimsy.
Then came the performance: Larry and his team rolled out a ‘BBQ station’ at the end of the table to prepare lobster. Wrapped in banana leaf to preserve its tenderness, it was marinated in tomato and tamarind, then glazed with cardamom, ginger and fresh lime zest. It was, in a word, exquisite.
For the meat course, a 40-day aged sirloin of beef from Rowler Farm, a knife box comes round, for us to select, like duellists, our chosen blade. Served with coconut and a green peppercorn jus, it crosses continents in its flavour profile and I throw manners out the window to mop up the plate with the last of the bread – itself worthy of mention.
Then Larry reappeared to share a slice of his culture. In Sri Lanka, fruit sellers dress mango with salt or chilli to enhance its natural sweetness. Here, that idea became a palate cleanser. A scoop of alfonso mango sorbet, infused with lemongrass and cardamom, was topped with salt, chilli, lime zest, and angelica oil for a final aniseed kick. While better than most desserts, then came dessert proper: a raspberry, yuzu and pepper sorbet atop a disc of white chocolate, capping off a meal of rare precision and imagination.
Plenty of places offer style over substance. Others serve stunning food in uninspiring surroundings. But The Cocochine manages to marry exceptional cooking with sublime design – and that’s what truly memorable meals are made of.
The Cocochine, 27 Bruton Place, London W1J 6NQ. For more information, including details of its private dining room, please visit www.thecocochine.com.