Leandro Carreira at Climpson’s Arch: Ex-Viajante chef takes up residence in London Fields

Portuguese cooking takes the limelight at Climpson’s Arch
A roasting hot venue: Climpson's Arch
Ben Norum26 October 2015

Climpson’s Arch in London Fields, which is used by Climpson & Sons for coffee roasting as well as for restaurant residencies, has a habit of breeding successes.

The original head chef, Dave Pynt, now has a successful restaurant in Singapore. His successor Tomos Parry won Chef of the Year at the Young British Foodies awards last year and went on to lead star-studded Mayfair restaurant Kitty Fishers. And its latest residency, Andy Oliver’s Som Saa, is now well on the way to becoming a permanent restaurant having smashed a recent crowdfunding goal.

The next name — currently little known, but likely not for long — to make the railway arch their own is Leandro Carreira, whose six month residency L.C. at Climpson’s Arch starts on October 30.

If it proves to be anything like previous incarnations, it might be wise to book in early, while you still can.

Leandro Carreira: Not a big name, yet

Born and raised in Leiria in Portugal, Leandro first started working in restaurants in Lisbon before travelling around Europe and the Middle East.

He landed a job at Mugaritz in northern Spain — rated the sixth best restaurant in world according to World’s 50 Best — where he worked for three years before coming to London and cooking alongside Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes at Viajante.

He has since also worked with James Lowe of Lyles and Junya Yamasaki of Koya.

Leandro says: “Nuno is one of the most creative people I have ever worked with, his mind never stops and his knowledge is endless."

"I have learned from him a very important ethos, which is to give creative freedom to all the people — not just chefs — that work with you.”

His cooking, like Nuno’s, will take influence from Portugal but not be solely traditional:

“The food at L.C. will have Portuguese flavours and there will be a few traditional dishes but I don’t want to box-in my creative process — the menu will evolve every week,” he explains.

Dishes available at launch will include: grilled cured cod with roasted peppers, white onions, crispy garlic and potatoes; beef with cockle juices; and brioche with sour toffee and caramelised hazelnuts — plus his mum's recipe for bacalhau (salted cod).

The restaurant will also serve Portuguese-style breads and pastries, made with Lonzo Bakery across the road from the arch.

The best food in London

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Once his six months in the arch are up, Leandro has ambitions to open his own restaurant:

“I think Portuguese cuisine has a huge potential in London as it’s still not that widely known. The only Portuguese restaurant I know in London that I really rate is Nuno’s Taberna do Mercado,” he says.

“A site nearby in east London would be my first choice but I’m open to other locations,” he adds.

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