From 2 July, KOL Mezcaleria will be used as a dedicated dessert and drinks space in which guests ‘will be invited to enjoy the final act of their meal’.
Lastra - who launched the Seymour Street restaurant in 2020 - says the new, more prolonged, guest experience mirrors the dining culture in Mexico.
“It is important for me to create a menu that tastes of home, to share a taste of my Mexico in London. After dinner, particularly in Oaxaca, everyone typically ends their evening in beautiful mezcal bars.
“With that in mind, we will now welcome our guests to join us for the finale of their meal and beyond in a little post-dinner Mexico.”
The changes mean that guests will no longer just be able to go for a drink at KOL Mezcaleria.
Mezcal will remain central to the drinks list at KOL Mezcaleria with the bar team set to introduce a custom trolley featuring mezcals, cocktails, dessert wines, digestifs, and infusions made with British botanicals as part of the shake up.
Next month will also see Lastra reduce the price of his five-course lunch menu - which is available Wednesday to Friday - from £105 to £95.
New dishes for the lunch menu include a strawberry taco that is inspired by a creamy pumpkin seed dip from Yucatán, made with seaweed, elderflower and nasturtium leaf; and a take on a traditional turkey stew called chilmole that involves semi-dehydrated pineapple tomatoes, fermented chilies, fresh currants and ash oil.
The price of KOL’s 11-course tasting menu will remain the same at £185.
This ‘new era’ of KOL is being billed as the beginning of a much larger journey in which ‘art, design, gastronomy and research culminate, bringing an unparalleled sense of place and purpose to every plate’.
KOL is currently ranked at 50 on Restaurant’s list of the top 100 restaurants in the UK and is one of only two restaurants in the UK to appear on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
The restaurant - which is backed by MJMK - received a Michelin star in 2022.
A key chef at Noma Mexico, Lastra is focused on British ingredients at KOL only importing a handful of items from his homeland including corn, chillies and chocolate.