Humo

The concept of a ‘wood-fired’ London restaurant might not elicit the same reverential ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as it did a decade ago; such an elemental technique is now commonplace, with the ash-licked likes of Lagom, Acme Fire Club and Eksted at the Yard all dishing up scran straight from the coals. Not to mention Dalston and Green Lanes’ many Turkish mangals, where flames and meat have long lived in scorchingly close quarters. 

We can’t help but think it’s for the best. Humping a massive hunk of wood into the kitchen no longer means a restaurant is instantly seen as host to a sort of edible Tough Mudder, where the bigger the fire – and the spicier and meatier the menu – the more boorishly blokey the clientele.

Wood-firing the Mayfair way is methodical and calculated, with just a dash of dark ages energy

Humo (‘smoke’ in Spanish) received its first Michelin star at the start of 2024, a little over a year since Colombian-born chef Miller Prada – who was sous chef at Endo at the Rotunda – opened the restaurant down a Mayfair backstreet. Of course, Mayfair backstreets are no less grand than Mayfair mainstreets, but any protege of sushi god Endo Kazutoshi is unlikely to set up shop in the far-flung likes of Tooting or Tottenham just yet. 

Wood-firing the Mayfair way is methodical and calculated, with just a dash of dark ages energy; if you’re sitting at the counter seats you’ll be confronted head on with fish smoking over the four-metre-long grill, bringing back vivid memories of school trips to the kitchen at Hampton Court Palace. (The heat too is palpable; we’ll wear just a vest next time, maybe.) But Prada doesn’t just whack random animals up there and hope for the best. Different woods and different temperatures impart different flavours on different dishes in a fittingly alchemistic fashion. Aside from an instrument that looks like an ancient torture device hoisted high above the grill, at Humo elegance is key, with precision-focussed Japanese technique shot through every course. Raw starters of 12-day aged Hampshire trout were dolloped with even more aged caviar, but punchier still were slivers of yellowtail, served with a glossy citrus sauce and Colombian coffee from the chef’s family farm. The sauce was so good we ended up licking it from our fingers after struggling to mop up the leftovers with the provided chopsticks. 

Next, a round of smoked vegetable dishes, the champion of which was the gremlin-esque mushrooms, which saw maitake, enoki and morels resembling little woodland brains, crispy at the end and soft in the middle and thrumming with an egg yolk sauce cut through with Côtes du Jura, saffron and hazelnuts. Magical stuff, and the closest we got to anything that might potentially be served by Bilbo Baggins during Sunday lunch in the Shire.

Then, seafood, and some very detailed wood-related specifics on the menu; ‘grilled in direct contact with AB55 whisky barrels, HR2 Applewood, CM13 Silver Birch’. All of which means nothing to me, apart from potential small-talk fodder for my next Homebase trip. Suffice to say, whatever Prada is up to when it comes to selecting timber, worked. The world’s tenderest scallop was delivered under an undulating blanket of creamy, buttery and 20-year oak aged rum sabayon.

Watching the skilled, admirably efficient Prada at work is also all part of the joy of Humo. His way with placing beetroot jus on a plate of lamb was hypnotic, the resulting red squiggles and shapes resembling a static Alexander Calder mobile. 

Like Endo at the Rotunda (both are part of the Creative Restaurant Group, of which Endo is culinary director), Humo is far from cheap; starter courses linger at the £20 mark, while mains amble around the mid £35 mark. For this kind of culinary heat though, we’d say that’s not too bad a deal. 

The vibe Laidback theatrics with everything cooked over a four-metre grill (no gas or ‘leccy here) in a sleek Mayfair spot. 

The food Masterful cooking over fire through the lens of flawless Japanese technique.

The drink There’s a wine flight for £110 a head. Not cheap, but you’ll get six glasses. 

Time Out tip Nab a seat at the counter and watch the master Miller Prada at work – warning, it’s hot up there.