Chef Santiago Lastra is the owner and head chef of KOL, a Mexican restaurant in London which was awarded its first Michelin star in 2022. Chef Lastra began his culinary career at the age of 15 by cooking a sauce according to a recipe from a box of crackers, which his family really liked. He began to study Italian cuisine, and soon got a job at an Italian restaurant. He didn’t want to cook only Mexican food in Mexico so he decided to travel and experience the new frontiers of cooking while working with chefs who pushed the boundaries in internationally renowned restaurants. While traveling, he gathered a wealth of experience, most notably working at Mugaritz in Spain and Noma in Copenhagen - two world-class restaurants that showed him what it was like to cook at the highest level. On his journey in search of innovative recipes, he noticed only a few examples of authentic Mexican cuisine in the world and realized that he wanted to combine his knowledge with creativity and innovation. This is how the KOL restaurant in London was created. Chef Lastra opened it after carefully researching foods, spices and recipes in his native Mexico. But instead of a fusion approach, he decided to incorporate British ingredients into Mexican cuisine. He was named GQ Best Chef in 2021, and received the La Liste Award for Most Promising Young Chef in the same year.