Having established a stream of successful restaurants abroad — most recently The Kensington Street Social at Sydney’s Old Clare Hotel — Jason Atherton has returned to London to open his seventh restaurant in the capital, the izakaya-styled Sosharu. Helmed by Executive Chef Alex Craciun, who temporarily relocated to Kyoto in preparation for the launch, the restaurant offers casual yet refined Japanese cuisine made with seasonal British ingredients. Diners can expect small dishes taken from different specialities from the country such as sashimi, temaki and hibachi grill, alongside a litany of innovative plates, like chashu pork belly, udon and king oyster, finished off with imaginative desserts like apple pie with miso butterscotch.
Housed in Clerkenwell’s Turnmill Building, the design is provided by Shanghai-based studio Neri & Hu, and plays on the concept of Japanese domesticity, with three distinct areas — a dining room, chef’s table and a lower level bar named Seven Tales — wholly defined by function and linked by a layout mirroring that of a Japanese house. Specifically looking towards the country’s traditional minka homes for inspiration, Neri & Hu have adopted their abstracted timber structures in the main dining room, as well as adding sliding doors, long stone counters and high Japanese denim curtains elsewhere. Downstairs in the basement bar, Sosharu takes on a more urban guise and reflects Japan’s subcultures by way of customised wallpaper depicting golden age movements, and references to art and architecture. The cultural allusions do not stop there, with bar manager Geoff Robinson’s drinks menu making frequent nods to Japanese concepts and philosophies for a selection of potent tinctures that offer depth every sense.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
63 Clerkenwell Road
-
Inside a creative couple's magical, circular Indian home, 'like a fruit'We paid a visit to architect Sandeep Virmani and social activist Sushma Iyengar at their circular home in Bhuj, India; architect, writer and photographer Nipun Prabhakar tells the story
-
Ten of the best track jackets for channelling a 1970s-meets-1990s coolAs a ‘Marty Supreme’ track jacket makes a bid for viral garment of 2025 – thanks to one Timothée Chalamet – the Wallpaper* style team selects ten of the best tracksuit and coach jackets for men and women, each encapsulating an easy, nostalgia-tinged elegance
-
Eight questions for Bianca Censori, as she unveils her debut performanceBianca Censori has presented her first exhibition and performance, BIO POP, in Seoul, South Korea
-
Sir Devonshire Square is a new kind of hotel for the City of LondonA Dutch hospitality group makes its London debut with a design-forward hotel offering a lighter, more playful take on the City’s usual formality
-
This sculptural London seafood restaurant was shaped by ‘the emotions of the sea’In Hanover Square, Mazarine pairs a bold, pearlescent interior with modern coastal cuisine led by ‘bistronomy’ pioneer chef Thierry Laborde
-
Montcalm Mayfair opens a new chapter for a once-overlooked London hotelA thoughtful reinvention brings craftsmanship, character and an unexpected sense of warmth to a London hotel that was never previously on the radar
-
Follow the white rabbit to London’s first Korean matcha houseTokkia, which translates to ‘Hey bunny’ in Korean, was designed by Stephenson-Edwards studio to feel like a modern burrow. Take a look inside
-
Poon’s returns in majestic form at Somerset HouseHome-style Chinese cooking refined through generations of the Poon family craft
-
One of London’s favourite coffee shops just opened in Harvey NicholsKuro Coffee’s latest outpost brings its Japanese-inspired design to the London department store
-
Enjoy a Kyoto-inspired menu with London attitude at this new restaurantAki London offers a serene counterpoint to Oxford Circus, where stately interiors and elevated Japanese cooking cross paths
-
At this charming bolthole in The Cotswolds, doing nothing is an art formLeave your mobile on ‘do not disturb’, switch off and slow down at this 16th-century manor-turned-hotel
