The rebirth of west London’s landmark BBC Television Centre continues. Six years after the broadcaster vacated the iconic ‘doughnut’ building, the multifaceted complex, now home to residences, restaurants and a hotel, continues to wow with its extended roll out of outlets.
The newest addition — Endo at the Rotunda — crowns the Graham Dawbarn-designed Helios building and presents what is the centre’s first true fine dining restaurant; a 16-seat Japanese experience where Omakase-style dining and Kengo Kuma-designed interiors come together in a fusion that is both soothing and dramatic.
Defined by a meandering two-hundred-year-old Hinoki wood sushi counter, the space places all emphasis firmly on Japanese tradition, a focus which also sees light sources concealed by a series of washi-inspired folds of fabric that appear as a giant cloud from street level. The cuisine is equally authentic. Water used for the Yamagata rice here is shipped over from sushi master Endo’s hometown, and a third-generation soya recipe feeds both the multi-course Omakase menus and edomae a la carte selection for an indisputably bona fide Japanese adventure, albeit in White City. §
