The chef showing London diners there’s more to Colombian cooking than beans and rice
The past 18 months have been a whirlwind for Miller Prada. The Colombian-born chef, who is a protégé of Endo Kazutoshi, launched his debut restaurant, high-end wood fire concept HUMO, in London’s Mayfair back in February last year and since then has barely had time to stop and draw breath. Within its first 12 months HUMO was recognised as one of the best in the UK on the National Restaurant Awards top 100 list and went on to earn its first Michelin star in the 2024 Guide.
Prada is obviously proud of his achievements so far and is keen to build on them going forwards, which brings us to Abajo. Occupying the downstairs space below HUMO that was previously used as a PDR, this new 10-seat chef's table draws its inspiration from the chef’s Colombian heritage and has been developed in partnership with fellow Colombian chef Moris Moreno.
For Prada, this is his opportunity to explore the culinary traditions of his homeland and present them to a London audience. “Most people assume Colombian food is beans and rice,” he says, reflectively. The challenge is to show it can be deeper than that.”
How Prada and Moreno hope to achieve this is through a five ‘chapter’ menu that encompasses around 15 courses in total. Each ‘chapter’ showcases a core ingredient (including Mediterranean bluefin tuna; East Sussex quail; and Kagoshima beef) across several dishes, with the different flavours and cooking techniques influenced by the five ecosystems of Colombia – the Caribbean coast, Andes, Pacific coast, Amazon, and Orinoquía (grasslands).
Prada hopes that Abajo will demonstrate the breadth of Colombian cuisine, an area of gastronomy that remains relatively unexplored in the capital, and prove it has a place in a fine dining setting.
How did the plans for Abajo come about?
The site for HUMO came with two spaces, and I didn’t want to do the same thing downstairs as I was doing in the main restaurant. I wanted the downstairs to have more intimacy, to almost feel like an extension of my home. At the end of last year, I visited Colombia and reconnected with Moris. He’s a chef I’ve known for a long time and has this amazing CV that includes Leo in Bogotá [Leonor Espinosa’s flagship restaurant that has previously featured on The World’s 50 Best list]; and Central in Puru [voted The World's Best Restaurant in 2023]. We began talking about the idea of doing a Colombian tasting menu concept in London, and the idea for Abajo grew from there.
Why did now feel like the right time for you to explore Colombian cuisine in a restaurant setting?
I left Colombia 18 years ago. My gran showed me how to cook, but I didn’t really learn how to cook there, it came later when I began travelling. I went to Australia, to France, to Japan; I lived in Puru for a while. I learnt all these different cuisines, but I never felt a bond to my own type of food. Once I’d got HUMO up and running, I wanted to start reconnecting with Colombia and its cuisine, and Abajo was my opportunity to do that. It’s not just about making Colombian food; we’re still primarily using British ingredients. This a chance to explore the traditions of my country and its culture.
How have you worked to ensure the menu is an honest interpretation of Colombian cuisine?
We follow a series of chapters that each represents a different ingredient presented in different preparations. We have five chapters in total and they each also reflect a different region of the country. The food found in each region is completely different, and we take inspiration from that. Take tomatoes, which are still considered as a fruit and sweet in Colombia, we’ve used that as the focus for our dessert course. It’s both super exciting and challenging. Most Colombian food you find in London is super traditional, but it’s not exciting to me. I want the food here to be exciting.
“I would rather lose our star trying to create new dishes then just keep it by serving the same menu”
HUMO is now 18 months old, how has it evolved?
It’s changed a lot. When we started, I was the only one who had cooked with different woods before. We now have a core team of passionate chefs, and everyone is comfortable with the cooking processes and how to use different woods to get different flavours out of the ingredients, and that has made dish development easier. I’ve begun putting myself into the menu more too, so it has my stamp. For example, we serve the yellowtail [tuna] with a citrus and coffee sauce and the coffee we use comes from my family farm in Colombia.
What it did it mean to you when you won a Michelin star earlier this year?
It was a huge surprise, and for the team it was some real validation for all their hard work. We had created a casual and friendly service, which I had been told Michelin didn’t like. It wasn’t a main objective, it was about providing an experience of that level, but ensuring the guests were happy, and that hasn’t changed. We have a great team who want to push, and they are so enthusiastic. I would rather lose the star trying my best to create new dishes and give our best cooking then just keep it by serving the same menu we do now because we know it works.
What are your plans and ambitions for the future?
I’m 34. HUMO is home and I want to stay here. I want a place that I can feel proud of and that can build a legacy. We’ve talked about doing another thing, but HUMO would be a one off. At the moment I still love being at the pass, I love working with the team doing the prep each morning, but in a few years, I want to think about taking a step back. I want a family and kids, and in 10 years’ time I would want to have pivoted into being more of a mentor figure, creating concepts and building that legacy. In the same way Endo did with me, lifting me up and helping me reach my goal, I want to pass that on to the team I’ve built. Abajo is part of that. I will never stop cooking, but one day I will take a step back from the pass.
