The Neo-Dada Organizers’ destructive activities, often centred on the demolition of art objects, prompted critic Yoshiaki Tōno to coin the Japanese term “han-geijutsu,” translating in English to “anti-art.” In 1960, Japanese conceptual artist Masunobu Yoshimura founded the controversial art collective. Widely abbreviated to Neo-Dada, the group would meet at Yoshimura’s studio in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to…
The journey of Mitshel Ibrahim’s Ombra – a small Italian trattoria on the corner of Vyner Street in east London – is unique, a restaurant which in 2023 is defined by its extraordinary dynamism and adaptability through the COVID-19 pandemic. Before March 2020, Ibrahim ran a successful neighbourhood Italian restaurant, whose most notable moment had come after…
During the course of the last three years, Adejoké – Joké – Bakare has emerged as one of London’s most important chefs. Her restaurant brand Chishuru, which came to life in Brixton Market in 2021, after the chef won a competition, has helped to deepen the city’s understand of Nigerian cuisine, specifically, and West African culinary culture…
Missy Flynn is the co-founder of London restaurant Rita’s – a brand which began life in residency at iconic Dalston nightclub Birthdays in the early 2010s, evolved to its first permanent premises on Mare Street in Hackney by late 2013, before moving through various iterations and evolutions, including as a sandwich shop in King’s Cross, and a…
Three years after Monica Lee closed her legendary Los Angeles restaurant, Beverly Soon Tofu, she still gets calls about green onions. Lee, who is 70, used to wake up at 4 am to call the big produce markets and secure the best ingredients, rather than rely on a delivery. If she found a good deal…
Japanese artist Tarō Okamoto reached the peak of his fame in 1970 with his appointment as Theme Producer for Expo ’70 in Osaka, the first world fair to be held in Asia. There he created his best-known work, Tower of the Sun, 1970, a monumental sculpture installed outdoors. His visually arresting works delve into profound…
Jonathan Alphandery is the wine-collector-turned-restaurateur behind lauded Modern European restaurant Planque which he opened with chef Seb Myers in Haggerston, east London in 2021. Alphandery was born and raised in Paris. In 2009, he moved to Sydney to be with an ex-girlfriend, who was studying in his hometown. “Pretty classic,” he says. For the majority…
The co-founder of cult favourite London restaurant Koya, Shuko Oda is one of the city’s most respected Japanese chefs. Since 2010, Oda’s cooking has always combined traditional Japanese culinary principles, British ingredients and Modern European flourishes with unique ability and style. Oda was born in Beckenham to Japanese parents and moved to Tokyo at the age…