When the hotel opens in early 2018, Sanchez-Iglesias’ restaurant will sit at the top of the hotel, while the ground floor food operation will be headed up by former Pachamama head chef Adam Rawson.
Sanchez-Iglesias’ first restaurants Casamia and Paco Tapas are contrasting in style, with the former serving a tasting menu of Michelin-starred, sophisticated small plates and the latter offering a more casual, constantly changing list of tapas. The rooftop restaurant's offering will be more similar to the fare at Paco Tapas, according to the chef.
“My dad is Spanish and we want the menu to take from our restaurant Paco Tapas in Bristol (named after him), with the cuisine influenced by Spanish and Mexican culture," says Sanchez-Iglesias.
"A menu created for sharing. We’re talking para picar, cerviches, tacos - flipping the food up between Spanish and Mexican. We’ll be cooking exceptional produce simply over fire, the menu will be ingredient led, adding in spices and heat.”
“When I first heard about the possibility of coming on board with The Standard, London I was like ‘hell yeah’” says the chef on the decision to launch a hotel restaurant.
“I never thought I’d work with a hotel but this is different. The team are amazing.”
The entire food operation at the hotel – which currently operates sites in New York; Miami Beach; Downtown LA; East Village; and Hollywood – is being overseen by creative director of food and culture for the group, Angela Dimayuga.
When The Standard launches next year it will occupy a 266-room hotel opposite St Pancras station. Designed by the group’s in-hosue design team, the hotel will feature a ground floor bar, two restaurants, a sound studio and a record press.
In July Sanchez-Iglesias closed his Bristol pizzeria Pi Shop, which sat in between Casamia and Paco Tapas, planning to revert it to a “creative kitchen for the Sanchez Brothers Group”.
The chef had plans in the pipeline to set up a restaurant project at craft brewer Left Handed Giant’s crowdfunded Bristol brewpub. The campaign hit its target and ended up overfunding by 233%, but no updates on the project have been released in the past five months.