Lupa, the Highbury neighbourhood restaurant co-owned by Theo James and Ed Templeton, has quickly become one of London’s most talked-about tables, thanks to its warm, ingredient-led take on Roman comfort food. Under head chef Naz Hassan, the intimate 28-cover space serves a menu designed for sharing, with handmade pasta, porchetta and a distinctly personal approach to hospitality at its heart. Here he reflects on Lupa’s first year, his path into cooking, and the style, comfort and consistency shaping one of Highbury’s most talked-about restaurants...
So Naz, let’s start at the beginning, how did you become a chef?
I didn't set out to become a chef, I started working as a kitchen porter in my mid-teens when I was 15. I wasn't a great student and my dad decided to bring me into the kitchen to teach me a skill, teach me how the world worked and I ended up washing dishes in his restaurant and then I moved to London when I was like nineteen or twenty and that's where I fell in love with cooking.
Tell us about Lupa. When did it start? What was the inspiration behind it and how has the first year been?
The idea of Lupa started at a barbecue with Theo [James] and Ed [Templeton], who are the owners. They really wanted a neighbourhood restaurant. They both live locally and they saw this site, which is beautiful. The idea of it being Roman is due to the fact that Ed lived in Rome for seven years and Theo has a big Italian connection. He was in White Lotus and was based in Rome while filming - so he was going back and forth from Rome and Sicily. Roman food is universal, we really wanted to bring something that people were familiar with to the neighbourhood but equally something that we wanted to make and they wanted to eat.
How would you describe Lupa to someone who's never been?
I think it changed throughout the year. To start, the hype was massive, it was almost impossible to get a table. The hype definitely hasn’t died, but it just eased off a little bit and now I would describe it as a very relaxed place where you can come in, have a bowl of pasta, have a lovely meal with someone that you really like or maybe you don't like them, but still have a really nice meal and forget about what you're doing for an hour and a half and just enjoy the food. That's how I would describe it.
How would you describe the way you dress and do you dress differently when you’re in and out of the kitchen?
Yes, I do. I do have two different wardrobes, one for the kitchen and not being in the kitchen and they are actually split in the house. So, the nice things, they are in a wardrobe while the stuff that I use for work, they're just like hung outside the bedroom on a rail and that's absolutely fine. I try to use more comfortable and lighter materials for work. I tend to wear cotton a lot in the kitchen, items that are less irritating, that don’t matter so much if they get ruined. While things that I really enjoy wearing on my days off, I look after them more, even though I'm terrible at looking after these garments. I always spill something on myself. I don't know how. But yeah, that's the big difference and I always wear a white t-shirt or a white shirt on working days. On the days off, I try to put a bit of colour in my life.
Do you have any fashion influences?
I dressed terribly as a teenager and in my twenties, I didn't know how to dress. And then slowly, slowly I think I improved my taste with time. I used to wear purple t-shirts, blue trousers and green socks. That's how bad it was back then… I don't know. I don't have fashion influences as such. I have brands and shops that sell products where I get really inspired. I love Americana, like old Americana aesthetic. I really like Japanese jeans and I really enjoy Japanese collectors of vintage from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties, that kind of vibe. That's where I’m inspired.
Can you tell us about the outfit you’re wearing today? What drew you to these pieces?
I picked this outfit because it's very similar to something that I would wear on a day off. I really love the tailored trousers. They're super, super comfortable and they are very similar to what I would wear on a daily basis.
The worker jacket is incredible and I'm a big fan of cord. I think there should be more cord in everyone's life. I do wear a worker jacket that is completely destroyed. I wear it at any occasion and I was like ‘oh, that reminds me of the one I have and I need an upgrade’. Mine cost literally twenty quid and I think this is a massive, massive upgrade. As I said, I was really bad at picking colours and now I try to pick one colour and just stay within that colour palette. That's why I picked the shirt.
What are you most excited for about the year ahead at Lupa?
The first year of a restaurant is very difficult; to understand who you are, where you stand, how your staff is going to bond and how things are going to turn out. It could turn really sour and you could open a very unsuccessful restaurant. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Our staff members stayed with us for the whole year, basically, both front and back of house.
I think this year we’ll continue to find consistency, for our guests and our staff. I think finding consistency is the thing I'm most excited about. I think seeing my staff members staying for a second year, in an industry that has big changes of staff members, that is something that really makes me happy. It means we're doing something really good. Also, seeing people coming back over and over again; people who celebrated their birthday here in our first year, booking again to celebrate with us in our second. Those are the small victories that I strive for.
I don't see a goal for the second year, I just take it day by day.
Finally, you've just opened a second restaurant, Ornella. What was it like opening a second restaurant and how does it differ from Lupa?
Ornella was a surprise. It came in very, very fast after opening Lupa, it was really exciting but stressful at the same time. Ornella represents where Alessandro and myself are from. I’m from Milan and he’s from Turin, the two places are very close and a lot of the dishes have Milanese and Turinese influences in their backbone. This is what really makes me excited and happy, it's very close to home. There is a big rivalry between Milan and Rome, and I felt a bit cheeky opening a Roman restaurant as a Milanese. Now, it feels really humbling opening a Milanese restaurant, representing the city where I grew up, drawing inspiration from places where I've eaten a lot of times. Milan is where I call home, and representing it in the city where I now call home, and I probably will call home for the rest of my life. It's a nice way to bring my actual home to my new home, in a way… I don't know, it's really close to my heart. Lupa will always be really close to my heart because it’s my first child, as such. Ornella is the second child that you like more, because the first one was so difficult and a little naughty.
