Santiago Lastra is the Mexican chef-owner of KOL in Marylebone, London, the only Mexican restaurant in the United Kingdom to hold a Michelin star. Born 4 April 1990 in Mexico City and raised just south of Cuernavaca, Lastra trained at Instituto de Arte Culinario Coronado in Mexico, completed a Master’s at the Basque Culinary Center in Spain, and worked at Mugaritz and the Nordic Food Lab before spending seven weeks as Project Manager for René Redzepi’s Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum in 2017. He opened KOL in October 2020 at age 30.
KOL earned its Michelin star in 2022 and retained it in the 2026 Great Britain and Ireland guide. The restaurant entered The World’s 50 Best Restaurants at No. 73 in 2022, climbed to No. 23 in 2023, and reached No. 17 in 2024, the highest-placed UK restaurant on the list. Lastra’s approach is captured in a single line: Mexican soul, British ingredients. In 2024 he opened Fonda, a second, more casual Mexican restaurant on Heddon Street in Mayfair.
TL;DR
- Mexican chef born 4 April 1990 in Mexico City; raised near Cuernavaca
- Chef-owner of KOL in Marylebone, London (opened October 2020)
- One Michelin star since 2022, retained in the 2026 Great Britain and Ireland guide
- No. 17 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2024, highest-placed UK restaurant
- Fonda (Mayfair, 2024) and KOL Mezcaleria extend the group
Santiago Lastra key facts
| Born | 4 April 1990, Mexico City, Mexico; raised near Cuernavaca |
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Main restaurant | KOL, 9 Seymour Street, Marylebone, London (opened October 2020) |
| Michelin stars | One at KOL since 2022, retained 2026 |
| Style | Mexican soul, British ingredients; seasonal tasting menu; heirloom corn masa milled in-house |
| Training | Arte Culinario Coronado (Mexico); Basque Culinary Center (Spain); Mugaritz, Nordic Food Lab, Noma Mexico |
| Other ventures | KOL Mezcaleria (basement); Fonda (Heddon Street, Mayfair, 2024) |
Early life and training of Santiago Lastra
Lastra was born on 4 April 1990 in Mexico City and was raised just south of the capital near Cuernavaca in Morelos state. He has said his first venture into cooking was spotting a crab dip recipe on the back of a packet of Ritz Crackers as a child, buying the ingredients, and preparing it for his family. He entered the restaurant world at 15 and studied at the Instituto de Arte Culinario Coronado in Mexico, then moved to Spain to complete a Master’s degree in Culinary Innovation at the Basque Culinary Center in San Sebastián.
After the Basque Culinary Center, Lastra worked at Andoni Luis Aduriz‘s two-Michelin-star Mugaritz in Errenteria, and at the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen, the research project founded by Claus Meyer and associated with Noma. He then spent years as a travelling guest chef, moving through 27 countries and cooking one-off events in venues including The Tate in London and Hija de Sanchez in Copenhagen. The argument he developed during those years: Mexican recipes and cultural heritage could be expressed through ingredients sourced entirely from whatever country he was cooking in.
The defining moment was the 2017 Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum. René Redzepi opened Noma for seven weeks in Tulum with Lastra as his Project Manager, and the experience reconnected Lastra with Mexican produce, communities and tradition while operating in a Nordic fine-dining structure. After Noma Mexico closed, Lastra looked for somewhere to apply the lessons, eventually settling on London. He opened KOL in October 2020 at 9 Seymour Street in Marylebone, in the middle of the UK’s COVID-19 lockdowns.
Santiago Lastra career timeline
- 4 April 1990: Born in Mexico City
- 2005: Enters the restaurant world at age 15
- Late 2000s: Studies at Instituto de Arte Culinario Coronado in Mexico
- Early 2010s: Completes Master’s at the Basque Culinary Center, San Sebastián
- Mid-2010s: Works at Mugaritz and the Nordic Food Lab; begins travelling guest-chef career across 27 countries
- 2017: Project Manager for René Redzepi’s Noma Mexico pop-up in Tulum (seven weeks)
- October 2020: Opens KOL in Marylebone, London
- 2021: KOL voted Best New Arrival in Europe at the La Liste Awards; Lastra named Best New Chef at the GQ Food and Drink Awards
- 2022: KOL earns its first Michelin star; enters The World’s 50 Best Restaurants at No. 73; Lastra listed in Top 100 Chefs in the World by The Best Chef Awards
- 2023: KOL climbs to No. 23 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2024: KOL reaches No. 17 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, highest-placed UK restaurant; opens Fonda on Heddon Street in Mayfair
- 2026: KOL retains its Michelin star in the Great Britain and Ireland 2026 guide
Santiago Lastra signature style: Mexican soul, British ingredients
The KOL argument is that Mexican recipes and techniques are what make the cuisine distinctive, not the specific ingredients. Rather than importing Mexican avocado, tomatillo or corn into London, Lastra sources British produce and applies Mexican technique: langoustines from Scotland in a smoked-chilli taco, Cornish lobster in a seabuckthorn taco, rye koji mole with English lamb saddle, paletas (Mexican frozen treats) made with jalapeño, yoghurt and Yorkshire rhubarb. The name KOL itself comes from the Mexican Spanish word for cabbage, reflecting Lastra’s conviction that the simplest ingredient can be made extraordinary.
The restaurant’s tortillas are a central expression of the approach. Masa is made from heirloom corn milled in-house and sourced through Tamoa, a Mexican social enterprise that supports farmers and biodiversity. The mole is built without avocado (often impossible to source at Mexican quality in London) and uses rye koji as a fermentation bridge to Mexican ancestral techniques. The kitchen treats Mexican culinary history as a research project that encourages the substitution of regional ingredients everywhere in the world.
KOL serves tasting-menu format exclusively: nine courses at dinner, six at weekday lunch, with a separate chef’s table. The basement houses KOL Mezcaleria, an authentic mezcal bar that serves as both a pre- and post-dinner destination. In 2024 Lastra opened Fonda on Heddon Street in Mayfair: a more casual, home-style Mexican restaurant inspired by the family fondas of his childhood, built on the same masa-and-ingredient sourcing principles as KOL but at accessible pricing.
Notable dishes at KOL
Several KOL dishes have become reference points in London fine dining. The langoustine and smoked chilli taco is the restaurant’s opening signature: a single Scottish langoustine on a handmade masa tortilla with smoked Mexican chilli. The Cornish lobster and seabuckthorn taco substitutes Mexican citrus with British seabuckthorn berries. The grilled octopus with bone marrow is the headline shared plate. Lamb saddle with rye koji and mole uses English spring lamb and a Nordic-inflected Mexican mole. Paletas (Mexican frozen treats) close each menu, flavoured with jalapeño, yoghurt and Yorkshire rhubarb in spring or British stone fruit in summer. The handmade tortillas themselves, from heirloom corn milled on-site, are a signature dish in their own right.
Santiago Lastra awards and recognition
- 2021: Best New Arrival in Europe (La Liste Awards) for KOL
- 2021: Best New Chef (GQ Food and Drink Awards)
- 2022: First Michelin star at KOL
- 2022: KOL enters The World’s 50 Best Restaurants at No. 73
- 2022: Listed in Top 100 Chefs in the World (The Best Chef Awards)
- 2022: KOL listed at No. 15 on OAD Top New Restaurants in Europe and No. 1 in the UK
- 2023: KOL climbs to No. 23 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
- 2024: KOL reaches No. 17 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants (highest-placed UK restaurant)
- 2026: KOL retains its Michelin star in the Great Britain and Ireland 2026 guide
Santiago Lastra impact on London and Mexican cuisine
Lastra’s most concrete contribution is moving Mexican cuisine in London beyond the anglicised-taco cliché and into fine dining. KOL is currently the only Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant in the United Kingdom, and its consistent climb on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants from No. 73 in 2022 to No. 17 in 2024 has repositioned Mexican cuisine as a global fine-dining category. The 2024 ranking was the highest placement any UK restaurant achieved on the list that year.
The second contribution is the broader ingredient-translation argument. Mexican chefs have historically been told that to serve Mexican food abroad they must import Mexican ingredients or compromise on authenticity. Lastra’s model, partly shaped by his seven-week Noma Mexico experience and his 27-country guest-chef tour, is that technique and cultural heritage travel, and that the cuisine is stronger when it engages rigorously with local produce. The Tamoa partnership for heirloom corn masa means the supply chain supports Mexican farmers while the restaurant itself sources almost everything else locally.
Within the current London fine-dining generation he sits alongside Clare Smyth at Core in Notting Hill (three Michelin stars since 2021), Daniel Calvert-era alumni across the city, and a younger generation of chefs who opened in the 2020s. His work connects directly to the Nordic lineage through René Redzepi‘s Noma Mexico project, and to the Basque tradition through his Mugaritz and Basque Culinary Center training under Andoni Luis Aduriz.
Santiago Lastra FAQ
Does KOL have a Michelin star?
Yes. KOL earned its first Michelin star in 2022 and has retained it every year since, including in the Great Britain and Ireland 2026 guide. It remains the only Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant in the United Kingdom.
Where is KOL?
At 9 Seymour Street in Marylebone, London. The ground-floor restaurant seats 54 guests and serves tasting menus exclusively: nine courses at dinner (£185) and six courses at weekday lunch (£105). The basement houses KOL Mezcaleria, an authentic mezcal bar.
What does “Mexican soul, British ingredients” mean?
Lastra’s argument is that Mexican cuisine is defined by its recipes and techniques rather than specific ingredients. KOL applies Mexican tortilla-making, mole-building, curing and fermentation techniques to British produce: Scottish langoustines, Cornish lobster, English lamb, Yorkshire rhubarb. The only Mexican ingredient used systematically is heirloom corn for the masa, sourced through Mexican social enterprise Tamoa.
Did Santiago Lastra work with René Redzepi?
Yes. Lastra was Project Manager for the seven-week Noma Mexico pop-up that René Redzepi opened in Tulum in 2017. The experience reconnected Lastra with Mexican produce and communities while operating in a Nordic fine-dining structure, and directly informed his decision to open KOL in London in 2020.
What is Fonda?
Lastra’s second London restaurant, opened in 2024 on Heddon Street in Mayfair. A fonda in Mexican usage is a family-owned neighbourhood restaurant, and Lastra’s version of the format draws on his childhood family recipes and his travels across Mexico. Fonda is more casual and more accessibly priced than KOL, built on the same heirloom-corn masa sourcing principles.
What is next for Santiago Lastra
Following the 2026 Michelin star retention at KOL and the continuing Fonda programme in Mayfair, Lastra remains focused on deepening the KOL and Fonda menus in London. He has signalled interest in eventually opening a restaurant in Mexico, though without firm timing. The Tamoa heirloom-corn partnership continues to expand the restaurants’ supply chain of Mexican social-enterprise produce. His public Instagram (@santiagolastra) is the best source for current menu updates.
