Following considerable success in Dubai, Markus Thesleff returned to London in 2021 to launch Los Mochis in Notting Hill. He has since acquired the venerable Knightsbridge Italian Sale e Pepe and opened a vast flagship Los Mochis in the City, with the latter project in particular marking him out as one of the capital’s most ambitious restaurateurs.
Now he is pressing ahead with two major West End launches in quick succession: Sale e Pepe Mare at The Langham and MA/NA, a high-end Japanese restaurant on the western edge of Mayfair near Park Lane.
But his excitement about these two projects is tempered by frustration at what he sees as political and economic mismanagement eroding London’s status as a global hospitality capital. We caught up with Thesleff on a hard-hat tour of MA/NA to talk about his new restaurant projects and find out what he thinks the Government needs to do to stimulate growth at the upper end of the sector.
Was it always the plan to open two new restaurants in quick succession?
Yes. It may seem like there’s a lot going on, but from our perspective it’s measured. We’ve spent the past four years preparing for this. What people are seeing today is what we agreed on some time ago. The bigger question is where we’re going to put the next £40m to £50m of investment. Sadly, we’re not sure it’s going to be the UK. The market – and the country more generally – has changed a lot.
What do you mean by that?
Fifty per cent of my black book has left the country. Friends who used to come to the UK for holidays aren’t coming. Residents are leaving. In areas like Notting Hill, Mayfair and Chelsea, a lot of non-doms have gone. I don’t think people understand the effect this exodus is having on restaurants that target that sort of demographic. The top end has lost a lot of its clientele to places like Dubai and Miami. Every entrepreneur I know is looking at their options. England used to be the place where, if you made it, you ended up. That’s part of why London became the culinary capital of the world. The wave of new concepts and chefs over the past decade has been second to none. In my opinion, it’s had the strongest restaurant scene in the world. But that’s being eroded.
What do you want the Government to do?
There are some easy fixes. Firstly, they need to row back on the changes to the tax regime for non-doms and inheritance tax. It’s idiotic and is costing the country a huge amount of money in lost revenue. Tackling crime against high-net-worth individuals in central London would also help, as that is perceived as being a big problem. Just look at social media.
So, this isn’t really about VAT and changes to NI?
Yes and no. We need to find a way to equalise the tax burden between physical hospitality businesses and digital companies. We have the highest energy prices in Europe and they’re about to go higher. This needs to be addressed. But for me, business rates and minimum wage aren’t the main issue – that’s just the cost of doing business and the Government needs that money coming in. National Insurance hikes weren’t great, but the broader issue is that we’re being hit everywhere without a clear growth strategy. What we really need are measures that stimulate growth.
Talking of growth, tell us about Sale e Pepe Mare. Why the switch to seafood?
We didn’t want to copy and paste the original because that would have been disrespectful. It’s not just about seafood - I wanted to show we could do lighter cooking. Toni Corricelli, who founded Sale e Pepe in 1974, is from Puglia. I wanted to reflect that heritage while making the cooking cleaner and more playful. There will be whole roasted fish, some fun things with caviar and a dessert trolley. The drinks will lean into playful martinis and negronis. I’d also like to bring back the appletini. We’re serious about what we do, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. The space at The Langham is very different - it’s grand. It’s been a challenge to create the intimacy a restaurant needs. We’ve softened it, made it feel cosier and less formal. It’s two London legacies coming together.
And what about MA/NA?
It’s a contemporary take on Japanese food. The setting will be high energy, but it will also be the most high-end concept we’ve done so far. We want people to feel wrapped up in the most cosy, sexy, sophisticated blanket. London has produced some powerhouse Japanese restaurants, but we’ll be different. The food will be more West Coast, more creative. My first London restaurant was supposed to be MA/NA - we had agreed a deal at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park before Covid changed everything.
Why not put Los Mochis into Mayfair? It’s your growth brand…
Who said Los Mochis isn’t coming to Mayfair? Watch this space. But the Upper Grosvenor Street site we’ve taken on didn’t lend itself to it - it’s not big enough. Returning to Mayfair is a big deal for me. I used to run a nightclub there [Pangaea]. Mayfair would have been an obvious location for our debut Los Mochis, but I loved the Notting Hill site and saw the area’s potential. In 2021, there was very little there. Now there’s arguably an oversupply of restaurants and super-prime rents that are akin to what you’d pay in Mayfair. But I’m also very excited about The City. Los Mochis has been a huge success there - our average spend is a lot higher than some other premium restaurant concepts. It’s a good place to do business because it’s becoming a lifestyle destination in its own right. Planning is also more flexible; it’s one of the few places in London where you can really come in and do something big. Los Mochis Notting Hill and Los Mochis City are very different. The City is a super-restaurant. Notting Hill is more neighbourhood. At some point we may split the brand, with Notting Hill evolving into Casa Mochis to reflect that vibe.
What else is in the pipeline?
We have Beverly Hills coming up, and $40m to $50m of overseas investment lined up. We’ve identified and signed for big opportunities abroad that will be announced shortly. We would much prefer to put that money into the UK, but the lack of clarity makes it a risky place to invest at that scale. We are still looking at projects here and in Europe, but they’re smaller - not £10m to £15m investments. We’re also potentially looking at acquiring existing brands and supporting the right chef to launch a restaurant. I live here. It’s my city. I want to see it getting better. But investment follows confidence - and at the moment, confidence is fragile.