Two minutes with Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith, co-founders of LUCA
Luca is known for its food, bar, wine list, soundtrack and interiors - how important was it to you to create a restaurant where each of these elements was important and on an equal footing?
Really important. Our backgrounds are both in food, drink and music, but design is incredibly important to us. We take immense pride in how beautiful the restaurant is and the fact that there’s not a bad seat in the house. There’s an alchemy in everything coming together at a restaurant to make you feel as though you’re being transported to another place and time, to create a truly memorable experience.
What’s the most satisfying part of running Luca?
Our regulars and our team. We think we have one of the best teams in London and having a happy team is really important to us. Our regulars too. We’ve been open for 7 years now and some people have been coming since we opened. To us, the team and our regulars all feel like members of the big, extended Luca family.
Will you ever share the recipe for your parmesan fries? If so, when..?
This is a closely guarded secret! But maybe, if we ever do a Luca cookbook… watch this space.