German-born, British-based shoe designer and AnOther Guest Lover Nicholas Kirkwood has forged an enviable career creating catwalk shoes for numerous designers including John Rocha, Erdem, Rodarte and Pollini, as well as his own eponymous collection
German-born, British-based shoe designer and AnOther Guest Lover Nicholas Kirkwood has forged an enviable career creating catwalk shoes for numerous designers including John Rocha, Erdem, Rodarte and Pollini, as well as his own eponymous collection launched in spring 2005. Renowned for his architecturally inspired pieces, it was only natural that Kirkwood would take the role of designer for his new flagship store situated at Number 5, Mount Street. Blending his characteristic juxtaposition of hard and soft elements, the store appears modern and feminine whilst at the same time breaking the conventions of what you would expect from a shoe store. To coincide with the opening Kirkwood has also launched a very special collaboration with the Keith Haring Foundation and Swarovski which includes Haring inspired cartoon like shoes, boots and roller skates adorned with Swarovski Elements.
When it came to picking his Favourite Thing, Kirkwood chose Cuisine from Umu Restaurant, located just around the corner from his new store. The Michelen star awarded restaurant, is London’s first Kyoto influenced eatery with a reputation for serving timeless Japanese cuisine in the heart of Mayfair. Here we speak to Kirkwood about Umu, what his cooking specialty is and whether he has any guilty food pleasures.
Why did you choose cuisine from Umu Restaurant as your Favourite Thing?
I chose Umu because I love Japanese food. I am in Italy a lot of the time and they have amazing traditional food there but I love coming back to London for the huge range of international cuisine, Japanese being top of my list. I love that Umu has classic Japanese dishes as well as inventing their own.
What is your favourite dish at Umu and why?
My favourite dish at Umu is the dried scallop and tofu sushi with ginger sauce, sesame seeds and mustard cress. It is amazingly fresh but rich and tasty at the same time.
What is your specialty to cook?
Cereal and milk!
What is your guilty (food) pleasure?
New York City Hot Dog.
Text by Lucia Davies
To view Nicholas Kirkwood's AnOther Loves stream see here.
