Diego Jacquet still hoping to inspire Argentine wave across UK

Argentina-born Diego Jacquet has seen London’s food scene become increasingly diverse since moving to the UK over a decade ago.

There are now Michelin-starred restaurants specialising in all types of cuisine, including west African, Greek and Mexican within the country’s capital city.

Looking to smash the stereotypes of Argentinian cuisine being restricted to “big chunks of meat” and Malbec, Diego opened his own restaurant in 2012, in Marylebone.

ZOILO, listed in the Michelin Guide, is described as a ‘modern Argentine grill’, offering seasonal menus with ingredients and wines from Argentina, with various fish and cuts of meat on offer.

The combination of style and cuisine is one of a kind for London, something which disheartens Diego, who also runs a pizza restaurant called FLORENCIO, a stone’s throw away from ZOILO. He also owned an Argentine grill in Singapore, from 2013 to 2020.

Having began his career in Buenos Aires in 1993, Diego moved to Europe, working at Casa Nicolasa and El Bulli, before moving to Aquavit in New York and then across to England at Hilton Trafalgar Square and The Zetter.

Challenging the Steakhouse Stereotype

Discussing the perception and evolution of Argentinian cuisine in England, Diego told The Staff Canteen: “It is an interesting question. When I came in 2004, I remember there was Gaucho in Piccadilly, an Argentinian steakhouse. That was the only thing that was around.

“Then in around 2007, small Argentine steakhouses started to open. There was one in Hackney, one in Battersea.

"They had an open fire grill, which now you find everywhere. Wherever you go, everyone has an open grill. In 2007, nobody knew what an open grill was. I remember when the Argentinian steakhouses started opening, that caught the eye of the critics.

“The places were very rustic. It was big chunks of meat, the fire, a bottle of wine and a big bowl of chips. Everybody was quite happy about it.

“But that was not the representation of my country. If you go to a local restaurant in Argentina, you don’t order a 500g ribeye. Only people that had a lot of money were going to order ribeye in a restaurant.

“Barbecues in Argentina are more about getting the most out of the cheap cuts, that you can cook longer and you can make it tender.”

He continued: “In 2010 I went to Brazil and Argentina, travelling, and I started realising there was a lot of press about Alex Atala in Brazil and there was a lot of press about Pujol in Mexico. It was the moment that the ‘50 Best’ was starting, but there was nothing about Argentina.

“I was very comfortable with my job in a five-star hotel, Monday to Friday. But I knew something was missing from Argentina. Then I decided to open my own restaurant. I think that was the change - I opened a restaurant, not a steakhouse.

“My goal was always to show people that Argentina was much more than steaks and Malbec. If you look into the produce of Argentina, you look into the coast, you have some fantastic octopus, scallops, razor clams, prawns. If you go to the river on the Patagonia side, you have fantastic ruby trout, salmon trout, the crab in the south. Obviously the beef, but all the fruit, the mushrooms, the berries. Whatever you want, you will find it.

“That was difficult at the beginning, because people were coming and expecting a big chunk of beef and a very full-bodied Malbec. If you wanted to serve a Pinot noir from Patagonia, people were like, what?

“In the worst time, it was difficult. But I will remain true to quality. We were the first Argentine restaurant that was doing three types of bread, petits fours, our own ice creams, own our fresh chorizo sausages, the charcuterie. Nobody was doing that.

“A lot of things we were doing were very different. And people slowly started appreciating quality.

“When people are happy, they appreciate and pay for quality. So it was tough, but I think a lot of doors have opened.

“I'm very happy for that. The part I'm not very happy with is, unfortunately, there are not many ZOILO restaurants in London. That makes me very sad.

“The other day somebody said to me, ‘yes, but you’re the only one, you must be very proud’. I said ‘no, I’m not proud at all’.

“Before, when they opened one Peruvian restaurant, there are three, four, five. You open African restaurants like Ikoyi, there are more. Argentines, we are still the only one. There seems to be nobody who is willing to follow or do the same thing.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by OMA (@oma.london)

“OMA now have won a Michelin star, the Greek restaurant that is trying to do things in a different way. For sure when he was opening, he was talking in a meeting and saying - guys, do you think this is going to work?

“It is scary. But I would say I’m a little bit sad that there is not more representation of our Argentine culture, in any other way.

“It could be wine bars, it could be bistros, more steakhouses. Everything became very chain-wise. So, room for improvement I guess.”

The Future of Argentinian Food in the UK

Asked why he feels nobody has followed his lead, Diego added: “I think it’s a lack of determination from some chefs.

“They are maybe more attached to traditional Argentine cuisine. But I believe this is the perfect time, even to open something closer to a tasting menu format, I think would work very, very well.

“At the same time, I will agree that it's harder to open a restaurant now than it used to be 10 years ago. You need to have quite a lot of money for the deposit. Landlords are more sceptical to renting to new companies.

“I don’t know that many Argentine chefs in the UK. If I actually knew talented, young Argentine chefs, I would be more than happy to back them up, that’s for sure. But I need to meet somebody with a lot of hunger to be like ‘come on, let’s do it together’. For some reason, it’s not happened.”

Diego Jacquet’s happy place making pizza

While he is disappointed by a lack of Argentine offerings in London, Diego does have his “happy place” in FLORENCIO.

“I like unique concepts,” he said.

“We turned down opening so many ZOILOs, abroad and in other parts of the city. For me, ZOILO is a unique thing, I don’t want to have another one.

“Pizza is my favourite thing. Whenever I travel, I eat pizza. In Argentina, pizza is a big thing. It’s a different pizza, it’s more focaccia-based, a little bit thicker, a lot of cheese. It’s ridiculous, you can have half a kilo of cheese on one pizza!

“I always wanted to have a pizza place. During the pandemic I said, let’s do something with pizza. I had free time so I started doing some tests. The restaurant was empty as it was the pandemic, so I started grilling them, to have a crispy base, then finishing them in the oven.

“I used to live in Paddington, so I always walked to ZOILO past Seymour Place. There used to be this Corsican pizza place. One day I was walking by and I found it shut. It happened to be the same landlord as ZOILO, amazing people. So I called them and they said ‘if you want it, it’s yours’.

“Then we came up with this pizza place, which has two very fundamental ideas, which was the oven needs to be in the entrance, you need to walk in and face the people making pizza. Then I wanted to do something practically impossible, which was to have an extremely light, but crispy dough, able to hold more toppings.

“I tried for a year, perfecting different things, the recipe, the oven, the temperature and came up with a pizza that I love, personally. My girlfriend loves it, the kids love it and it’s very different from all the other pizzas.

“The business is doing fantastic. There are an amazing group of talented, young people working there. Everybody is so passionate about it.

“It’s my happy place.”

Big plans for the future

While there are no future ZOILOs on the horizon, Diego’s head remains full of ideas for what to do next.

“I fall in love with concepts,” he explained.

“For me, this sensation about people that consider ZOILO or FLORENCIO the place to go, that is what I’m addicted to.

“We're working on a concept at the moment. It’s a wine bar, with a different food offering. So that will be my next challenge.

“Then we have in the pipeline a bakery concept as well, then we have another concept which is more like a bistro.

“We have the ideas. The only problem, besides money obviously, is to get the right people.

“I first want to meet the people and then do the concept. But definitely more to come.”

(Photos: Lateef Photography)