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This winter sees contemporary Sri Lankan cuisine put on the map in Soho with the arrival of Paradise. The restaurant will present ingredient focused cooking with a fiery island accent, all served in a stripped back, luxe brutalist setting late into the night.

Located on the legendary Rupert Street strip, Paradise is the first project from Dom Fernando who is bringing the authentic food and incessant energy of Colombo to London. Dom was inspired by his annual childhood trips to his family’s native Sri Lanka, where he observed his grandmother’s traditional cooking techniques and recipes passed through generations.

Chef Charith Priyadarshana’s dishes will draw their eclectic flavours from the nation’s many diverse regions, taking cues from Portuguese, Malay, South Indian and Dutch cuisines. With an emphasis on seasonality and sustainability, the menu will merge British and Sri Lankan ingredients prepared with a modern edge. Seafood will be procured directly from British day boats, along with meat from Swaledale Foods who partner with small farms in Yorkshire.

Signature dishes will include modernised street food staples such as curry leaf hoppers, mutton rolls with fermented chilli sauce and richly spiced curries such as slow roasted pork cheek with tamarind and Sri Lankan stout, and fried aubergine and jaggery moju. These thoughtfully considered small plates will make up a contemporary menu which explores one of South Asia’s most vibrant and unexplored culinary scenes.

The ingredient-focused ethos will extend to their drinks menu which will feature interpretations of classic cocktails such as tamarind and chilli sours and jackfruit bellinis. The Paradise team together with Zeren Wilson (Bitten & Written), have put together a wine list that highlights growers who focus on low-intervention winemaking and who work with an ethos grounded in biodynamic and organic principles.

Tasked with bringing the brand’s tropical brutalist style to Soho is East London designer Dan Preston (whose previous credits include KILN, Smoking Goat & BRAT). The space is inspired by the modern bistros of Colombo and Galle but blends industrial elements such as unpolished cement and black metal detailing in a raw, informal setting.

Replicating the generosity of Sri Lankan hospitality, the country’s sense of style and the varied dishes shared from dusk till dawn, Paradise will embed itself in Soho’s bustling twenty-four-hour scene.