So Naz, let’s start at the beginning, how did you become a chef?
I didn't set out to become a chef, I started working as a kitchen porter in my mid-teens when I was 15. I wasn't a great student and my dad decided to bring me into the kitchen to teach me a skill, teach me how the world worked and I ended up washing dishes in his restaurant and then I moved to London when I was like nineteen or twenty and that's where I fell in love with cooking.
Tell us about Lupa. When did it start? What was the inspiration behind it and how has the first year been?
The idea of Lupa started at a barbecue with Theo [James] and Ed [Templeton], who are the owners. They really wanted a neighbourhood restaurant. They both live locally and they saw this site, which is beautiful. The idea of it being Roman is due to the fact that Ed lived in Rome for seven years and Theo has a big Italian connection. He was in White Lotus and was based in Rome while filming - so he was going back and forth from Rome and Sicily. Roman food is universal, we really wanted to bring something that people were familiar with to the neighbourhood but equally something that we wanted to make and they wanted to eat.
How would you describe Lupa to someone who's never been?
I think it changed throughout the year. To start, the hype was massive, it was almost impossible to get a table. The hype definitely hasn’t died, but it just eased off a little bit and now I would describe it as a very relaxed place where you can come in, have a bowl of pasta, have a lovely meal with someone that you really like or maybe you don't like them, but still have a really nice meal and forget about what you're doing for an hour and a half and just enjoy the food. That's how I would describe it.
How would you describe the way you dress and do you dress differently when you’re in and out of the kitchen?
Yes, I do. I do have two different wardrobes, one for the kitchen and not being in the kitchen and they are actually split in the house. So, the nice things, they are in a wardrobe while the stuff that I use for work, they're just like hung outside the bedroom on a rail and that's absolutely fine. I try to use more comfortable and lighter materials for work. I tend to wear cotton a lot in the kitchen, items that are less irritating, that don’t matter so much if they get ruined. While things that I really enjoy wearing on my days off, I look after them more, even though I'm terrible at looking after these garments. I always spill something on myself. I don't know how. But yeah, that's the big difference and I always wear a white t-shirt or a white shirt on working days. On the days off, I try to put a bit of colour in my life.
Do you have any fashion influences?
I dressed terribly as a teenager and in my twenties, I didn't know how to dress. And then slowly, slowly I think I improved my taste with time. I used to wear purple t-shirts, blue trousers and green socks. That's how bad it was back then… I don't know. I don't have fashion influences as such. I have brands and shops that sell products where I get really inspired. I love Americana, like old Americana aesthetic. I really like Japanese jeans and I really enjoy Japanese collectors of vintage from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties, that kind of vibe. That's where I’m inspired.
Can you tell us about the outfit you’re wearing today? What drew you to these pieces?
I picked this outfit because it's very similar to something that I would wear on a day off. I really love the tailored trousers. They're super, super comfortable and they are very similar to what I would wear on a daily basis.
The worker jacket is incredible and I'm a big fan of cord. I think there should be more cord in everyone's life. I do wear a worker jacket that is completely destroyed. I wear it at any occasion and I was like ‘oh, that reminds me of the one I have and I need an upgrade’. Mine cost literally twenty quid and I think this is a massive, massive upgrade. As I said, I was really bad at picking colours and now I try to pick one colour and just stay within that colour palette. That's why I picked the shirt.
