Sushi maestro Endo Kazutoshi’s debut solo restaurant is inspired by the Japanese spirit of omotenashi - the art of hospitality rooted in empathy towards one’s guest. The 10-seater restaurant is located on the top floor of The Helios building, a striking mid-century number within the former BBC Television Centre in West London.
Offering something that’s more akin to a theatre performance than a conventional meal, Kazutoshi and his team create omakase menus that showcase exceptional produce. No detail is overlooked, with rice and water from a dedicated farm in Japan’s Fukuoka prefecture shipped in, ensuring the cooked rice has the perfect pH so guests can feel each yielding grain on their tongue.
Kazutoshi works closely with small-scale fishermen to secure the very best produce, including clams from Dorset, monkfish from Devon, cuttlefish from Brittany and scallops from Orkney. He also has strong links with a number of Japan’s most vaunted saké breweries, meaning Endo at the Rotunda is able to offer bottles that aren’t available anywhere else in the UK.
Born in Yokohama, a Japanese port city south of Tokyo, Kazutoshi grew up in a sushi restaurant and learnt his craft from his mother and grandfather before going on to work for some of Japan’s most revered sushi chefs. He moved to the UK in 2007 to work for Zuma, leaving in 2015 as group head sushi chef. Endo at the Rotunda launched in 2019 and won a Michelin star in just six months. Kazutoshi also runs the more casual Sumi in Notting Hill, which is named after his mother.
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